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Assessment of farmers’ understanding of the pictograms displayed on pesticide labels

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 28, pages 17812–17825 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Pesticide labels and pictograms are the first and utmost source of information for safe use and personal protection of farmers and a legally binding document against environmental degradation reinforced by governments. The influence of pictogram information on the safe use of pesticides depends on the importance of pictogram to farmers and how they interpret its information. The present study explores farmers’ interpretation of risk assessment data of pictograms displayed on pesticide labels. The statistical population is composed of all wheat and potato farmers in Ardabil County (N = 4964) of which 200 farmers were sampled based on Morgan’s sampling table. Data were collected using a questionnaire for the 2018–2019 cropping year. The content validity of the research instrument was determined by a panel of faculty members and its reliability was confirmed by the coefficient of Cronbach’s alpha. Results indicated that farmers had poor understanding of the pictograms. Unclarity of pictograms, inability to understand their meaning, and low literacy or illiteracy were the main causes of poor understanding of pictograms, respectively. Educational level, extension training, and attitude also had a positive significant relationship with pictogram comprehension. On the other hand, pictogram comprehension did not show a significant correlation with the use of personal protective equipment and the adoption of safety measures during pesticide handling and application. The results of multiple regression analysis indicated that the variables of attitude towards pictograms, information sources, educational level, and attending training courses on chemical pesticides were the main factors underpinning pictogram understanding so that they altogether accounted for 58% of the variance in the dependent variable of the research.

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Funding

This study received financial support from the University of Mohaghegh Ardabili (Ardabil, Iran).

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Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

    Asghar Bagheri & Sahar Pirmoazen

  2. Department of Agricultural Management, Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch, Rasht, Iran

    Mohammad Sadegh Allahyari

Authors
  1. Asghar Bagheri
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  2. Sahar Pirmoazen
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  3. Mohammad Sadegh Allahyari
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Contributions

S.P conducted the survey and gathered and analyzed the data; A.B. conceived the idea, planned the research, interpreted data, and wrote the article; and M.S.A reviewed and revised the paper scientifically. All authors approved the final version of this article.

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Correspondence to Asghar Bagheri.

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Bagheri, A., Pirmoazen, S. & Allahyari, M.S. Assessment of farmers’ understanding of the pictograms displayed on pesticide labels. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 17812–17825 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11821-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11821-w

Keywords

  • Pictogram
  • Personal protection
  • Safe use
  • Pesticides