Farmer jailed for illegal pesticide use

A farmer in Zhenping county, Henan province, has been sentenced to one year in jail for illegal use of highly toxic pesticides that are banned from use, Dahe Daily reported on Wednesday.

Surnamed Jiang, the farmer was found by officials of the county's agricultural administration on Oct 14, 2013, to be using highly toxic pesticides on his farmland where he grew green onions.

The officials sent samples of Jiang's onions to a local agricultural products quality inspection center for examination and the result showed the pesticide residues were more than 190 times higher than the standard.

The county court issued its judgment on April 14 with one year probation, and fined Jiang 5,000 yuan ($803).