Pesticide Toxicity Prevention in Farmer’s Community Movement

BACKGROUND: Pesticide toxicity is a serious problem in poor and developing countries agricultural communities, including Indonesia. AIM: This study aims to design an effort of pesticide toxicity prevention. METHODS: This is participation action research in look, think, and action cycle of pesticide use process as a qualitative study. The participants were taken by purposive technique and data collected with focus group discussion, in-depth interviews, self-report, and observation. Data were analyzed by thematic analysis. All participants are the commitment farmers that able to prevent and resolve the pesticide toxicity problem. This research has ethical clearance with number 1608/I/SP/2019. RESULTS: The results found that the determinant factor of pesticide toxicity is a high risk such as direct contact, unusually personal protection used, bad behavior such as spraying while smoking, blowing pump hoses directly, poor personal hygiene, pesticide storage, and disposal action. Several factors that influence are ignorance of farmers about the toxic effects that cause chronic toxicity. To prevent pesticide toxicity, we found the eight principles of pesticide use that formulated based on the epidemiology prevention approach that meets the level of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. It called Community Movement in Toxic Resolve or Gerakan Masyarakat Petani Atasi Racun (GEMPAR) arranged as an effort to prevent toxicity, including recognizing the hazard of pesticide, completely personal protection used, paying attention to the wind direction and spraying route, store pesticides in a safe place, safely dispose of pesticides, personal hygiene, record, and report toxicity symptom, and going to organic farming. CONCLUSION: The effort of pesticide toxicity could prevent in successful by a community movement called GEMPAR that divides into eight principles of prevention action in pesticide used.