Health and environmental impacts of pesticide use practices: a case study of farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Oluwole, Oluwafemi; Cheke, Robert

doi:10.3763/ijas.2009.0431

Cited by 96 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…On the other hand, most farmers, particularly small-scale farmers, select pesticides according to product prices. In fact, farmers' consideration of pesticide prices is a regular practice in developing countries [33,38]. In this respect, findings obtained by Ngowi et al [23] indicated that increasing pesticide prices is one of the main reasons for the decreasing trend of pesticide use.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Damalas and Koutroubas [24] and Oluwole and Cheke [33] emphasized pesticide effectiveness and price as two key factors affecting pesticide purchases and applications. It seems that farmers with a higher financial and purchasing power prefer to use pesticides with high effectiveness in controlling pests, regardless of products prices.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As mentioned above, the consideration of pesticide prices is a regular practice among farmers in developing countries [33,39]. In fact, the driving force behind farmers' decisions in choosing pesticides is the economic motivation [38].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As the use of synthetic pesticides by farmers has direct effects on the environment and excessive reliance on them poses various threats to the environment and health effects on farmers [53], environmental aspects have been considered as another main factor influencing farmers' use of pesticides [16,33]. Nevertheless, evidence from different studies suggests that farmers are aware of the environmental hazards of overusing pesticides [16,32,54], but they are sometimes unable to translate this awareness into their practices [55,56].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, the issue is still in an exploratory and premature stage. To identify the criteria items that farmers consider in selecting and using a pesticide product in the pest control operation, an expert panel discussion and a relevant literature survey were carried out [9,19,22,[25][26][27]29,33]. The initial questionnaire items were first examined in three rounds by a panel organized by a plant protection professor, four local extension agents, and three researchers who majored in plant protection products, as well as five key informant farmers in pesticide use.…”

Section: Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

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Farmers’ Criteria for Pesticide Selection and Use in the Pest Control Process

et al. 2018

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Chemical pesticides have been widely overused by farmers in Iran, but farmers' criteria for pesticide selection and use are not well understood. A field survey of 411 farmers was carried out in Mazandaran, Iran, to study farmers' criteria for selecting and using pesticides in the pest control process and explaining differences in selection criteria among farmers. From a list with a total of 25 criteria, five main groups were identified as key decision criteria for pesticide selection and use, using factor analysis. These groups included: (i) performance and effectiveness criteria, (ii) awareness and information criteria, (iii) technical and operational criteria, (iv) environmental criteria, and (v) financial and accessibility criteria. Performance and effectiveness criteria had the highest importance for farmers when selecting and using pesticides (mean 3.45), followed by financial and accessibility criteria (mean 3.28). Farmers who received training regarding pesticide use (mean 2.23 vs. 1.90) and farmers who had experience with integrated pest management (IPM) practices (mean 2.46 vs. 1.79) tended to consider environmental criteria when selecting and using pesticides. Similarly, farmers who experienced health risks related to working with pesticides (mean 2.0 vs. 1.77), farmers who used protection when spraying (mean 2.58 vs. 1.87), and farmers who knew about natural enemies of pests (mean 2.11 vs. 1.85) tended to consider environmental criteria when selecting and using pesticides. Farmers without off-farm income tended to consider financial and accessibility criteria more than farmers with off-farm income (mean 3.40 vs. 3.18). Farmers with college education favored awareness and information criteria, whereas experienced farmers favored the criteria of performance and effectiveness. Farmers with a high income showed a tendency to prefer performance and effectiveness criteria more than farmers with less income. Farmers who thought that pesticides are hazardous preferred environmental criteria more than farmers who thought that pesticides are not hazardous. Farmers who believed in the effectiveness of alternatives to chemical pest control (e.g., use of biological control, pheromone traps, or cultural control) preferred performance and effectiveness criteria less than farmers who believed no effectiveness or slight effectiveness of alternatives to chemical pest control. The findings provide useful information for better understanding factors affecting farmers' choices of pesticides and for improving future extension courses related to farmers' decisions about pesticide use.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%