A case study on attitude of Vegetable growing farmers towards pesticides use in Nepal

The study revealed that 95.3% of farmers used chemical pesticides in their vegetable crops. Majority of farmers (55%) stored pesticides outside the house, while 44% stored inside their houses (living room, open space, under the staircase etc.) and 1.5% even stored in bed room. Fifty-six % of the farmers expressed their view that application of pesticides caused pollution of water and air, while large number of farmers (74.5%) believed that pesticide application was harmful to the health of farm workers. Fifty-four % farmers did not follow waiting period at all after application of pesticides, whereas, 25.5% of the farmers, harvested vegetables the next day after spraying. Majority of farmers (51%) mainly depended on pesticide dealers for advice, followed by public extension system (32%), fellow farmers/friends (31.5%) and News/FM (15.5%). The farmers were quite aware of the harmful effects of pesticides, but they were not translating this awareness into their own safety practices. Therefore, there is a need of policy for strengthening trainings, extension services and various awareness programmes.