Do vegetable growers really follow the scientific plant protection measures? An empirical study from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

Abstract

Insect pest and diseases are the major biotic constraints to vegetable production in India as they accounted about 10-30 per cent of crop losses in the country. To manage these biotic stresses, Indian farmers commonly rely up on spraying of synthetic/chemical pesticides. However, there are huge gaps between recommended scientific packages of practices and actual pesticide use pattern by the vegetable growers. This study was designed to identify those gaps in the districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, considered as a prominent vegetable growing belt of the country. Data were collected from 200 progressive vegetable growers with a structured questionnaire covering different aspects of plant protection measures. The results alarmingly depicted that 88.5% respondents applied overdoses of pesticides (with cumulative score 452) in vegetables and 87.2% did not even bother about any personal safety measures while spraying pesticides (cumulative score 441). The majority of the respondents (76.8%) used to spray pesticides during noon hours of the day, which enhances the chances of health hazards and not getting desired results from the spray. Farmers have very low level of knowledge about the toxicity colour code and container disposal techniques after use of pesticides. Other important plant protection issues have been ranked by the respondents as per their perceived priority like unawareness about the label claim (cumulative score 436), frequent application of pesticides without referring ETL (cumulative score 435). As the waiting period is not followed by the most of the farmers (cumulative score 427), the problem of pesticide residues is becoming severe. Non-availability of suitable bio-control agents in the market (cumulative score 433) and lack of knowledge about their usage further hinder their adoption. This paper envisages to flag the issues of grass root problems and will help to formulate future policies to control the faulty use of chemical pesticides and will act as a guiding principle for the safe and judicious use of pesticides.