Eighteen farmers have been banned from selling their produce at the Ta’ Qali Pitkalija due to illegal pesticide levels, according to Agriculture Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes.

The farmers were identified by the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority last year following inspections and tests on locally grown produce sold at the Pitkalija.

Mr Galdes said they had been barred from selling at the Pitkalija for one year and a course informing them on appropriate pesticide use had been organised.

Mr Galdes was speaking on TVM, however the authorities have yet to reply to the questions on the matter that were sent by this newspaper.

The Times of Malta first reported on pesticide abuse by farmers in January, revealing that some 20 per cent of the locally grown produce tested by the authorities was over the legal pesticide limit.

They can’t sell at the Pitkalija for one year, and a course on pesticide use has been organised

And it turned out that the fruits and vegetables grown here were actually the most likely to contain illegal levels of pesticide residues in Europe.

The European Food Safety Au-thority’s latest report on pesticide use flagged Malta-grown produce as having the highest levels of pesticides – twice the EU average.

According to the authority, more than five per cent of the Maltese produce that the authorities tested in 2015 was over the pesticide limit. The EU average was less than two per cent. The local situation in 2014 was actually twice as bad. Meanwhile, the MCCAA has yet to provide this newspaper with a detailed breakdown of its test results for 2016.

Last week, this newspaper also reported that farmers at another Ta’ Qali market had been threatened with action from the authorities for irregular pesticide use.

An unspecified number of sellers at the second farmers’ market, which sets up close to the Pitkalija, were slapped with registered letters after their produce was found to contain excessive pesticide levels.

Farmers at the market disputed that they were in the wrong, with their lawyer writing in this newspaper that “none of the farmers at this market have been banned from entering the market, and none were subjected to court action”.

While none of the farmers have faced court action, the Times of Malta can confirm tests were conducted at the Ta’ Qali market.

ivan.martin@timesofmalta.com