Pesticide Usage And Perceived Health Status Of Vegetable Farmers In Kwara State Nigeria

Pesticides are widely used for the control of pests and diseases of vegetables in Nigeria but majority of the farmers are not adequately informed on the hazards associated with these chemicals. This study therefore examined pesticide usage and perceived health status of vegetable farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: (i) describe the socio-economic characteristics of vegetable farmers; (ii) identify the types of pesticides used by vegetable farmers; (iii) investigate the use of safety practices during the application of pesticides among vegetable farmers; (iv) examine the perceived health status of vegetable farmers; (v) identify capacity building needs of vegetable farmers on safety practices for pesticide use; and (vi) examine the constraints to safety practices employed by vegetable farmers in the study area.rnA three-stage sampling technique was used to select 532 registered members of Vegetable Farmers’ Group of the Kwara State Agricultural Development Project (KWADP). The first stage involved purposive selection of 11 major vegetable producing Local Government Areas in three zones of KWADP. The second stage involved a selection of 27 communities across the 11 LGAs. The third stage was a random selection of 50% members of the group in the communities. Interview schedule was used to elicit information. However, response rate was 85% (455). Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as Multiple and Multinomial Regression analyses at 5% level of significance.rnThe findings of the study were that:rn majority of the farmers (95.6%) grow vegetable on a small scale (X ̅=0.4 ha) with mean annual income of N101,648.90 per hectare;rn types of pesticides commonly used by respondents were Cypermethrin (90.5%), Atrazin (87.5%) and Paraquat Dichloride (63.1%);rn knowledge level (X ̅=2.43) and usage of safety practices (X ̅=1.7) for pesticide handling and application were low;rn main ill health symptoms experienced during pesticide use were conjunctivitis (red eye) (65.3%) cough (61.1%) and running nose (34.4%); majority (84%) of the farmers perceived their health status as good; rn capacity building on safety practices was needed for reading instructional manual (X ̅=8.68) and compliance with recommended dosage (X ̅=9.01);rn constraints to usage of safety practices during pesticide application include poor finance (X ̅=3.77), illiteracy (X ̅=3.63) and inadequate information on pesticide dosage (X ̅=3.60); andrn perceived health status measured was significantly influenced by the usage of safety practices such as compliance with dosage recommendation (p=0.001), reading instruction manual (p=0.093) and avoiding re-use of pesticide container (p=0.001). The type of pesticide used was significantly related to the occurrence of running nose (t=3.157; p=0.002), conjunctivitis (t=5.66; p=0.001) and cough (t=2.224; p=0.027).rnIn conclusion, contrary to the perceived good health status among vegetable farmers using pesticides, majority experienced conjunctivitis (red eye) and cough as a form of ill health that were significantly associated with the use of pesticides in Kwara State, Nigeria. It is therefore, recommended that vegetable farmers should be well informed and trained on the importance of safety practices of pesticide use.

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