Knowledge and Practice of Pesticides among the Farmer of Bhaktapur Municipality, Nepal

Abstract Background and Objectives: Pesticides are the substance which is used in agriculture to prevent, destroy and control the unwanted pests, weeds and other plant disease to enhance the production, processing, storage and transport food and agriculture commodities. The use of pesticides dramatically increases agricultural production and productivity. However, there are some negative externalities from such use of pesticides, as the use of pesticides raises the negative impact also increases. So the objective of this study is to assess knowledge and practice of pesticide use among farmers of Bhaktapur municipality. Methods: A self-designed questionnaire about knowledge and practice of pesticide use was distributed to the farmers of Bhaktapur municipality. The questionnaires were collected, processed, analyzed and tabulated to find out the existing knowledge and practices of farmers about pesticides use. Results: This study comprising of 54.1% (n=106) female and 45.9 %( n=90) female in the suburb of Bhaktapur shows majority (80.1%) of the pesticides users aware of pros and cons of pesticides. Only 40.8% store in dedicated pesticide store and 69.4% of the respondents got information for using pesticides from the sales man. However, only 58.2% the respondents take into account the preventive measure of Acute Pesticides Poisoning (APP). Conclusions: Despite having adequate knowledge of pesticides use, farmers seem to be less aware regarding the hazard of pesticides. Certain efforts must be placed not only to provide additional knowledge on risks of pesticide use but also on the execution of Personal Protective Measures (PPM) which is also necessary to decrease the pesticide exposure of farm workers. Various awareness programs and easy provisions/ supply of PPE would significantly reduce the risk of pesticides. Keywords: Pesticides, Acute Pesticides Poisoning, Bhaktapur municipality.