FUW TRENDS IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(A Peer Review Journal)
e–ISSN: 2408–5162; p–ISSN: 2048–5170
keywords: Adoption, mixers, oil palm, pesticides, sprayers, safety measures
Human beings and environmental toxicity of chemical pesticides made the manufacturers of pesticides to specify before-during-after use safety precautions that users of pesticides should adhere to. The study assessed respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics, pattern of use, experience in the use of pesticides, and to ascertain if there is significant difference between the states in terms of safety measures adoption. Respondents were selected through multistage sampling technique. Primary data were collected with questionnaire and analysed with percentage, mean and Kruskal-Wallis (H) test. Majority (75.4%) of the respondents were males, their average mean age, family size, and farming experience were 39 years, 5 persons and 16 years, respectively. Most (82.8%) of them were married, had formal education (96.6%), mix the pesticides (86.9%) that they spray and their years of experience in using pesticides was between 1 - 10 years (76.1%). Kruskal-Wallis test result (H= 50.79) indicated that there was significant difference between the surveyed States in terms of adoption of pesticide safety measures at 1%. It is established that pesticide mixers and sprayers are relatively young people and significant difference exists among mixers and sprayers in terms of adoption of pesticide safety measures in the surveyed States. It is recommended that agricultural extension agents and extension specialist should educate mixers and sprayers of pesticides on the importance of pesticide safety measures in the wellbeing of farmers, farm workers, environment, and on national food security.
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