Practice Related to Pesticide Use and Health Hazards amongst Vegetable Farmers in Gotikhel, Lalitpur

Abstract

Background: Use of pesticides has definitely helped to improve health condition of people as well as to increase agricultural productivity, but it has also posed health problems such as acute poisoning and chronic effects on human health and environment. This study therefore assessed the knowledge and practice on pesticide use and health hazards among farmers involved in vegetable production. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in Gotikhel VDC of lalitpur district. A total of 190 farmers were selected using simple random sampling technique. Open and close ended questionnaires and observation checklist were used to collect data. Data was edited on the same day of data collection and was coded before entering into the Epi-data and SPSS. Data entry and coding was followed by uni-variate and bi-variate analysis. Results: The 62.5% used pesticides in their field nearly 2 times. There is significant association between practice and knowledge level. Majority (73.2%) did not know about the route of entry of pesticides was skin. Almost all of the vegetable growers mixed the pesticides with their bare hands (96.8%), and only about 0.5% mixed in a safer way by wearing gloves. Nearly all vegetable growers (91.1%) determined the wind direction before spraying, while the rest (8.9%) did not. The prevalence of mixing the pesticides, and using as recommended by seller was 67.4%. Common symptoms among the farm workers were headache (23.5%), dizziness (23.5%), nausea (20.6%), eye irritation (14.5%), and skin burning (11.3%). Almost half (48.4%) had ‘poor knowledge’ about pesticides use. Conclusions: There is need of special educational programs, awareness, and legislation promoting the use of safer pesticides, and the implementation of personal protective measures. Keywords: knowledge; personal protective measures; pesticides use; practice.