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How India's high-value farm exports are suffering under new restrictions

Farmers in India widely use the chemical to stimulate growth in fruit plants

production, exports, farmers, storage
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Sanjeeb MukherjeeSubhayan Chakraborty New Delhi
Several consignments of grapes exported from India to the European Union (EU) in April 2015 were suddenly stopped mid-way owing to fears that they contained traces of chlormequat chloride — an innocuous chemical used to control plant growth.
 
Farmers in India widely use the chemical to stimulate growth in fruit plants.
 
Heath inspection by the EU found that higher than permissible residues of the chemical were found in a batch of Indian grapes.
 
The EU’s residue limit (mrl) for the chemical, commonly called “lihocin”, was 0.05 mg/kg (or 0.05 ppm).
 
Reports said one reason for this