Too much to handle? Pesticide dependence of smallholder vegetable farmers in Southeast Asia

Abstract

This study aimed to understand farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding agricultural pest management and synthetic pesticide use in Southeast Asia. Data were used from 900 farm households producing leaf mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. et Coss.) and yard-long bean (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdc.) in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Farmers heavily depended on synthetic pesticides as their main method of pest control. Most farmers were aware of the adverse health effects associated with pesticide use and covered body parts while spraying, but also considered pesticides to be highly effective and indispensable farm inputs. Farmers were largely unable to distinguish between common beneficial and harmful arthropods. Greater knowledge about this was associated with less pesticide use while greater awareness of pesticide health risks was associated with fewer observed poisoning symptoms. For the average farm and while controlling for other factors, farmers who sought advice from friends and neighbors used 45% less pesticide, but those who sought advice from pesticide shopkeepers used 251% more pesticide. Pesticide use was 42% less when a woman was in charge of pest management and 31% less when farmers had adopted biopesticides. These findings suggest relevant entry points for interventions aimed at reducing pesticide dependence.

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

“…In other words, the most frequent method of managing pests and diseases in most agricultural sectors is through the application of pesticides [9]. Farmers depend heavily on pesticides [10], though several alternative strategies for pest management continue to evolve [11]. Despite the importance of pesticides and their wide use throughout the world, particularly in developing countries [10], there is very little evidence about pesticide use patterns for various pests and crops [12].…”

“…Farmers depend heavily on pesticides [10], though several alternative strategies for pest management continue to evolve [11]. Despite the importance of pesticides and their wide use throughout the world, particularly in developing countries [10], there is very little evidence about pesticide use patterns for various pests and crops [12]. Farmers may be involved in pesticide overuse when trying to control different pests [13][14][15] because they often have limited information about pest occurrence and appropriate methods of control [12].…”

“…A review of the literature indicates that farmers' beliefs about pesticide performance are one of the most important criteria for choosing and using pesticides [9,10,19,[22][23][24]. If a pesticide does not have the necessary effectiveness to quickly kill the target pests, it may be less used by farmers or replaced by another pesticide.…”

“…For example, Cameron [22] showed that the ineffectiveness of some earlier insecticide groups against key insect pests changed patterns of insecticide use. Conversely, effective pesticides that satisfy farmers are used in higher quantities [10]. Another criterion affecting the use of pesticides that has been considered in various studies is knowledge and information about the appropriate use of pesticides [13,19,20,[25][26][27].…”

中国农户环境友好型农药施用行为影响因素的Meta分析

“…为 [4] ， 女性个体更倾向施用生物农药 [5] ； 也有研究表 明， 女性户主更可能过量施用农药 [6] 。户主年龄越 小、 受教育水平越高， 越倾向于采取安全的配药方 式 [7] 。同样有研究表明， 教育程度对农户农药投入 量无显著影响。风险规避使农户施用更多的农药 以避免损失 [8] 。 （2） 家庭特征对农户农药施用行为的影响。童 霞等认为农户家庭总人口和农业劳动力越多， 越会 减少农药加量施用； 对收入的关注导致随家庭总收 入的提高， 环境友好的农药施用行为可能性降 低 [9] 。 蔡银莺等研究表明， 增加家庭收入能显著降低农户 农药减量化施用的受偿额度 [10] 。胡定寰等认为家庭 总人口对是否施用无公害农药并无显著性影响 [11] 。 王建华等认为农业劳动力人数对规范的农药施用 行为产生了正效应， 在一定程度上保证劳动力供给 能增加安全农产品供给倾向 [12] 。 （3） 认知特征对农户农药施用行为的影响。农 [7] 。对人体健康和环境污染的关注能有 效抑制农户过量施用农药 [14] 。同样也有研究表明， 对环境污染的关注并未减少农药的过量施用 [15] 。虽 然较多农户了解农药施用的不良影响， 但对改良的 新型农药却持观望态度 [16] …”