Excessive fertiliser use may be reducing shelf life of vegetables

Vegetables being sold at the Bourda Market.

With some shoppers noticing that their vegetables have been much more perishable than usual, Chief Executive Officer of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) Dr Oudho Homenauth says it could be as a result of farmers using too much nitrogen fertiliser.

“When I buy me greens now for the week, it ain’t lasting. The bora, pumpkin, everything spoiling and getting soft, soft,” a shopper at the Bourda Market told Sunday Stabroek.

Another pointed out that in the past if one kept vegetables too long in the refrigerator, they usually lost moisture and became dry but now they are becoming “slush” after a few days.

One vendor in the market admitted to this newspaper that he has seen this trend and has received complaints.