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Cut-flower industry relies on heavy pesticide use - by JOSHUA GOODMAN
It's probably the last thing most people think about when buying roses. But by the time the velvety, vibrant-coloured flowers reach a Valentine's Day buyer, they will have been sprayed, rinsed and dipped in a battery of potentially lethal chemicals. Most of the toxic assault takes place in the waterlogged savannah surrounding the capital of Colombia, which has the world's second-largest cut-flower industry after the Netherlands, producing 62 per cent of all flowers sold in the United States. With 110,000 employees - many of them single mothers - and annual exports of US$1 billion, the industry provides an important alternative to growing coca, source crop of the Andean country's better-known illegal export: cocaine. But these economic gains come at a cost to workers' health and Colombia's environment, said consumer advocates who complain of an over-reliance on chemical pesticides.
Colombia's flower exporters association responded by launching Florverde, which has certified 86 of its 200 members for taking steps to improve worker safety and welfare.
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