As the cowpea scandal spread to Shanghai and at least 10 other cities, it was revealed that some farmers in Hainan Province had been relying heavily on a banned, highly toxic pesticide because of its lower cost.

And the province's agricultural bureau said a lack of testing facilities had allowed tainted cowpeas to enter markets nationwide.

Earlier this month, about 3.5 tons of Hainan cowpeas were found contaminated with a poisonous pesticide called Isocarbophos in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province.

Wuhan destroyed the consignment and banned further Hainan-produced cowpeas from entering the city.

Tests on Hainan cowpeas were later carried out nationwide. Toxic cowpeas were found in Shanghai and 10 other cities in Hubei, Henan, Guangdong, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces.

According to the Hainan bureau, about 200,000 tons of Hainan cowpeas, or half the total output anticipated this year, had entered the market nationwide.

About 80 to 90 percent of Hainan-grown cowpeas are sold to other Chinese provinces, said Chen Wenhe, director of the Plant Cultivation Management Department of the Hainan Provincial Agriculture Bureau.

Some batches detected with Isocarbophos were from Yingzhou Town of Lingshui County and Yacheng Town of Sanya City, two major plantations in Hainan.

Some farmers used cheap but highly toxic pesticide to save money.

Cowpea dealer Liu Jinhu from Shandong Province told Xinhua news agency: "Some 113 boxes of cowpeas sent to Shanghai on February 19 were found to be contaminated with Isocarbophos.

"Shanghai authorities then refused 500 boxes. I'm not doing any cowpea business now, since no one's willing to buy them," he said.

The province announced nine emergency measures including setting up 24-hour cowpea check points at the islands harbors and launching a comprehensive inspection of the use of pesticides.

The Ministry of Agriculture has urged tighter controls over vegetable production while several other provinces have banned the sale of cowpeas from Hainan.

(Shanghai Daily March 1, 2010)