Major Courage Quashigah, Food and Agriculture (MOFA) Minister, has expressed concern about new standards of pesticide use being demanded by the European Union (EU) and said they threaten Ghana's dream of increasing the volume of exports through premium products.

He said EU's requirements regarding pesticides are becoming more stringent, affecting Ghana's pineapple, one of its main non-traditional exports.

"Pesticides that are not registered in the EU and those the EU does not have relevant data on are not accepted," Major Quashigah said.

He expressed his concern in a speech Mr Vesper Suglo, Director of Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate of MOFA, read for him at a three-day national training of trainers course on pesticide management for "Good Agricultural Practices Certification (GAP) for stakeholders in the pineapple industry" at Amasaman, near Accra.

It is to enable farmers to comply with the certification criteria concerning crop protection and to introduce EU requirements on to the farm level and to train other farmers.

The workshop, that MOFA and the German Development Co-operation (GTZ) organised, attracted over 20 farm managers, extension staff of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and farmers from the Greater Accra Region.