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Farmers’ perceptions of safe use of pesticides: determinants and training needs

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Abstract

Purpose

With focus on the impact of age, farmers’ perceptions of importance and competence on pesticide safety measures as well as factors that influence these perceptions were explored in Fars Province of Iran. Farmers’ training needs on the pesticide safety measures were also identified and compared using the Borich Needs Assessment Model.

Methods

The study included 155 farmers who were up to 35 years old (young farmers), above 35 up to 50 years old (middle-aged farmers), and above 50 years old (old farmers). Farmers evaluated twenty-two pesticide safety measures divided into three stages of pesticide handling, i.e., before, during, and after use.

Results

There was no significant relationship either between age and total importance of the safety measures or between age and total competence on the safety measures due to the impacts of other mediating variables. The most important predictors for the perceived importance and competence of farmers on the safety measures were the experience of pesticide-related adverse health effects in the past and the formal education of farmers, respectively.

Conclusions

The relationship between farmers’ age and these two variables should not be considered either positively or negatively for predicting farmers’ attitudes on safety issues of pesticide use without taking into account other mediating variables that can also affect farmers’ behavior. Differences in the perceived importance and competence of farmers on the safety measures revealed considerably different needs of farmers for future training as a result of differences in age along with other background characteristics.

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Notes

  1. Nominal variable.Value 1 if the farmer has not experienced adverse health effects perceived to be pesticide-related.Value 2 otherwise.

  2. Years of farming experience.

  3. Share of pesticide application work (it was measured as dummy variable: Value 1 if the respondent always or often hires external workers for the application of pesticide. Value 0 if he/she hired external workers sometimes, seldom, or never.) (Feola and Binder 2010).

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge all farmers who participated in this study. We also thank Reza Rostami for valuable assistance in collecting data during the field phase.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, College of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

    Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi, Seyed Mahmood Hosseini & Mohammad Kazem Hashemi

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  1. Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi
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  2. Seyed Mahmood Hosseini
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  3. Mohammad Kazem Hashemi
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Correspondence to Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi.

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Hashemi, S.M., Hosseini, S.M. & Hashemi, M.K. Farmers’ perceptions of safe use of pesticides: determinants and training needs. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 85, 57–66 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-011-0641-8

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