Dwight Nelson/Francine Black, Star Writers

A batch of pumpkins which was sprayed with deadly insecticides is now possibly available to consumers after they were stolen from a farm in Clarendon.

The police have now issued a warning to citizens to be careful when purchasing the produce.

The stolen pumpkins had been sprayed with a combination of the insecticides, Lannate, Diazinon and Sevin. Lannate, the most dangerous of the three, can be fatal if inhaled or gets in the eyes according to the DuPont website. The US-based National Pesticide Information Centre website said Diazinon has a relatively low toxicity in humans and can cause headache, nervousness, weakness, nausea, among other symptoms. It can also induce a coma or death if the toxicity of the drug is high.

An article published on the Natural Life magazine website in 2006 stated that if large amounts of Sevin are inhaled or ingested, it can be toxic to the nervous and respiratory systems.

The pumpkin, which belonged to 73-year-old Gustavious Levene, a farmer in Parnassus, was sprayed on Wednesday evening and was discovered missing yesterday morning.

"Yesterday (Wednesday) evening, I sprayed the field before leaving it in the night. I used a little Lannate, some Diazinon and some Sevin powder. When I reach on the farm this morning, to my surprise I saw nearly three quarter of the crop missing, which is about 1,000 lb weight," he said.

Following leads

The Four Paths police confirmed that the farmer had made a report. They are investigating the matter and say they are following strong leads as they try to find the culprits.

"These pumpkins were sprayed yesterday (Wednesday) and are not fit for human consumption," the Constabulary Communication Network also warned the public in a release.

Levene says thieves have been targeting his produce even though it was planted in an area surrounded by woodland, a deliberate act to hide his field. He said a few weeks ago, some persons went through the farm testing the pumpkins to see if they were ready for reaping.

The farmer said he was depending on the money from the crop to pay for an important surgery. "... I am a sick man...," he said.