Agricultural authorities in Beijing are investigating reports that excessive amounts of herbicide residue have been detected in strawberries grown in the capital's suburban areas, and farmers were hit by a slump in sales amid consumer fears.
China Central Television reported on Sunday that eight strawberry samples purchased from supermarkets, plantations and wholesale markets were found to have excessive amounts of acetochlor, a herbicide that can be carcinogenic when absorbed in large amounts.
The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture said on Monday that it will launch a campaign targeting the excessive use of chemicals in the cultivation of strawberries.
"We will step up quality tests for strawberry products in the city, and will ban them from the markets once products that fail the tests are found," the authority said.
The tests, conducted by researchers at Beijing University of Agriculture, found acetochlor residues ranging from 0.09 mg to 0.367 mg per kilogram of strawberries in the eight samples. The amount was far above the European Union standard, which is 0.05 mg per kilogram of strawberries, according to the State broadcaster. China currently has no standards on acetochlor residues on strawberries.
Zhao Jianzhuang, the professor who led the tests on the strawberry samples, could not be reached on Tuesday.
The report has already affected the sales of strawberries in Beijing and a number of provincial areas, including Shandong and Liaoning provinces, said Zhang Yuntao, a researcher on strawberry cultivation at the Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences.
"The farmers were hit very hard by the news report. The prices used to be as high as 40 yuan ($6.40) per kilogram at supermarkets. Now nobody wants the product even at the price of 4 yuan per kilogram," he said.
Many researchers, including Zhang, questioned the test results as they believe no herbicides are required in the cultivation of strawberries.
"If the herbicide is used in the cultivation process, the strawberry plants would be killed as well," Zhang said.
China is the world's largest cultivator of strawberries, with a total cultivation area of 133,300 hectares each year, Farmer's Daily reported.
