Indigenous method to combat Environmental health hazards of agricultural workers while harvesting

Abstract

While conducting different agricultural operations, farmers face major difficulty with dirt, dust and organic or other substrates, which obstructs or hinders their regular activity. From the first hand information, by conducting surveys, primary data were collected from the selected villages near Ranga Reddy district Hyderabad, Telangana. Cuts in hands, sever finger wounds, piercing of thorns and kellicks, etc were found in harvesting Okra, Cotton, Chilli,Sugarcane crops and cutting of Castor, Fodder, and weed. This was only due to minimal care taken by the farmer workers. To overcome these difficulties, present study was under taken to design and develop a functional clothing kit includes, Apron, Knitted gloves and Scarf. Developed functional clothing was assessed against existing practice for its suitability, comfortability and durability. From the analysis, the acceptance level of the functional clothing by farm workers was found to be very good without obstructing their farm activities.