India Pesticide Tests Find 3.15% of Produce Samples Above Limits
India’s monitoring programme found 2,223 of 70,652 fruit and vegetable samples above FSSAI pesticide limits. Rates varied sharply, led by Telangana at 5.93%.
Key takeaways
- About 3.15% of the 70,652 tested fruit and vegetable samples exceeded FSSAI pesticide-residue limits.
- Telangana’s calculated exceedance rate was 5.93%, compared with 3.64% in Karnataka and 3.15% nationally.
- An MRL breach establishes regulatory non-compliance but does not alone demonstrate immediate acute toxicity.
- Produce meeting an MRL can still contain pesticide residue below the applicable legal ceiling.
- The released figures do not identify affected commodities, pesticides, exceedance severity or enforcement outcomes.
What Happened
India’s national pesticide-residue programme tested 70,652 fruit and vegetable samples from 2023-24 to 2025-26. A Lok Sabha reply by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said 2,223 samples exceeded Maximum Residue Limits set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, producing a national non-compliance rate of about 3.15%.
The reply described testing across 23 states and Union Territories. Telangana recorded 486 exceedances among 8,198 samples, a rate of approximately 5.93%. Karnataka had 334 among 9,176, or about 3.64%. Maharashtra recorded 260 exceedances, but the available figures omit its total sample count. Punjab tested 6,580 samples, but its exceedance count was not provided.
Why It Matters
Raw violation totals can give disproportionate weight to states conducting more tests. Adjusting for sample volume shows that Telangana’s reported rate was nearly twice the national level and notably higher than Karnataka’s, even though Karnataka conducted more tests.
An MRL is a legal ceiling specific to a pesticide and food commodity. Crossing that ceiling establishes regulatory non-compliance, but it does not by itself establish immediate acute toxicity. Health risk also depends on the chemical involved, its concentration, the amount consumed and the duration of exposure.
Conversely, the approximately 96.9% of samples that complied with MRL requirements cannot be described as pesticide-free. Compliance means that any measured residue did not exceed the applicable legal threshold.
Key Facts
- Samples tested: 70,652 fruits and vegetables.
- Above FSSAI limits: 2,223 samples, or approximately 3.15%.
- Telangana: 486 of 8,198 samples, or approximately 5.93%.
- Karnataka: 334 of 9,176 samples, or approximately 3.64%.
- Missing detail: The supplied data does not identify the commodities, pesticides, size of exceedances or resulting enforcement measures.
Background
The Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at National Level programme has operated since 2005-06. Its remit also covers cereals, pulses, spices, herbs, tea, milk, eggs, meat, fish and water.
Participating laboratories reportedly record collection locations, potentially including GPS coordinates, while farm-gate sampling can connect a non-compliant result to a growing area. That traceability can support targeted intervention and efforts to increase the use of Integrated Pest Management instead of unnecessary chemical controls.
The official reply refers to coverage across 23 states and Union Territories. Separate reporting says 40 laboratories participate across 22 states, so the two geographic descriptions should not be treated as interchangeable.
What Happens Next
Secondary reporting says the monitoring project has approval to continue through 2028-29. The available material does not disclose commodity-level rates, the pesticides detected, how far samples exceeded their limits, or whether authorities initiated farm audits, enforcement action or market recalls.
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