The experts also called for the training of farmers, stiffer penalties and regulations to deal with the emerging cases, with quacks playing a key role in the crisis.
According to Gideon Aliero from the East Africa Growers Association (EAGA), the number of quacks in the sector was worrying.
"Some farmers with the help of quacks are buying the wrong types of chemicals and applying them at the wrong time leading medical complication for consumers," he said in Naivasha, about 90 kms northwest of Nairobi.
Aliero was speaking during a sanitary and phytosanitary workshop for Agronomists and Fresh Produce Exporters organized by UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK).
He noted that some were misleading farmers to use chemicals irregularly and with poor instructions, with residual ending up with the consumers.
Aliero said there was need for agronomist to form an umbrella body to address their challenges and deal with the rising number of quacks.
