Uganda, April 25 -- Farmers have continuously used contaminated water - drug, pesticide and fungicide residue - to irrigate their vegetable farms. These end up in crop leaves, leading to stunted growth and a reasonable amount of yield loss in farmer fields. It can also be a danger to consumer health.

The findings by a team of scientists from the University of Johns Hopikins in the US and published in Environment Science and Technology, contend that this scenario applies to crop fields of farmers growing vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuce, cabbages and carrots, among others across the globe.

In Uganda and other African countries, the scenario is that most contaminants that are washed into water sources used by farmers to irrigate ...