Abstract

Objective: This cross-sectional study aimed at studying knowledge and practices of using pesticides among farmers in Le Hoa and Hoang Tay commune, Kim Bang district, Ha Nam province in 2015.

Method: Face to face interviews, which used a constructed questionnaire, was taken among 323 farmers to gather information about the knowledge and practices of participants.

Results: The percentage of farmers having appropriate knowledge was 40,9% and 38,1% had appropriate practices. Noticeably, the percentage of farmers who understood that pesticides can enter their body through “digestion” took 13,9% and 26,9% knew that pesticides can transmit to their body via skin or eye contact. Just 5,6% of them are aware of pesticide residue in agriculture products. Regardless of practices, the results show that 78% of farmers mixed several pesticides in one spraying. Those who always wore adequate personal protective equipment gears during their spraying accounted for 9,0%. 78% of them disposed of empty pesticide containers at the fields after finishing their spraying and 80,2% of them reapplied pesticide left-over over their treated areas.

Conclusion: Farmers had inadequate knowledge and were exposed to pesticides due to their inappropriate practices of using pesticides. It is, therefore, necessary to conduct health education programs to improve the knowledge and practices of farmers.