Ive fertiliser use may be g shelf life of vegetables
–NAREI head
he received any complaints, based on what was described to him by this newspaper, the excessive use of the nitrogen fertiliser is the obvious conclusion. there is really the cells within the fruit that expands and that expansion comes about because of water, excess water,” he explained, while noting vegetables also look greener.
“So, what I suspect has been happening is that the cells themselves, because of too much nitrogen fertiliser, have expanded in the vegetable making them larger,” he said.
According to Dr Homenauth, when the fruit or vegetable is harvested and the temperature changes the cells collapse and this is what he suspects is happening.
Asked if this harmful, Dr Homenauth responded in the negative, before adding that it is just a case of the vegetable losing moisture.
“The cells would start contracting and it would lose the moisture and that is why I suspect you get this collapse that is the only reason I could proffer. In other words, what happens is there is a reduction in the shelf life of these commodities,” he said.
He reiterated that nothing will be wrong with the fruit or vegetable as a result of it collapsing when cooked right away; it would have a lot of water.
According to Dr Homenauth, farmers would normally use three different fertilisers: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Nitrogen is used for growth and development, he explained.
“But it is not harmful; the only thing I am saying they may be using too much of the nitrogen…and customers would lose out because the things spoiling,” he said.
He stressed that farmers need to use the fertiliser efficiently and according to recommendations and there would be no issues.
He said definitively that the short shelf life of the fruits and vegetables has nothing to do with pesticides.
Dr Homenauth said he usually visits the markets and does visual checks and he is happy that even in the dry weather there is no shortage and the vegetables “look good” although the prices are fluctuating.