Magnitude of pesticide use and its health effects among chilly farmers of Dammuru village, Bellary district, Karnataka, India

Authors

  • Dodda Basava Janekunte Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, JSS Medical College, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, Karnataka, India
  • Sunil Kumar Doddaiah Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, JSS Medical College, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, Karnataka, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20230621

Keywords:

Adverse health impacts, Chilly workers, Farming, Knowledge, Pesticides

Abstract

Background: The second-largest industry in the world in terms of employment is agriculture. In other ways, working in agriculture is among the riskiest professions in the whole world. Each year, many farm workers have illnesses and workplace accidents. All people are exposed to some degree to pesticides, but farmers are more susceptible owing to the additional danger of occupational exposure.

Methods: Purposive sampling was utilized in this cross-sectional research on chilly farm workers in the Dammuru village of Bellary district, Karnataka. An MS Excel spreadsheet was used to input the collected data, which was then analysed using SPSS version 23.

Results: Out of 220 participants, 165 (or 75% of them) utilized items that were classified as class I (very hazardous), followed by 33 (or 15%) as class II (moderately hazardous), 16 (or 7.247%) as class III (somewhat hazardous), and 6 (or 2.72%) as class U (unsafe materials) (unlikely to present an acute hazard). The majority of the 220 individuals, 202 (91.81%) experienced health concerns, whereas the minority, 18 (8.18%), had no health issues.

Conclusions: More than half of the survey participants reported having health issues, with a lack of information about the appropriate use of pesticides and improper use of protective gear being the major causes. 18 people (8.18%) did not have any health issues whereas 202 (91.81%) did.

References

Öztaş D, Kurt B, Koç A, Akbaba M, İlter H. Knowledge level, attitude, and behaviors of farmers in Çukurova region regarding the use of pesticides. Biomed Res Int. 2018;2018.

Lamichhane R, Lama N, Subedi S, Singh SB, Sah RB, Yadav BK. Use of pesticides and health risk among farmers in Sunsari district, Nepal. J Nepal Health Res Council. 2019;17(1):66-70.

Atreya K, Kattel K, Pandit S, Chaudhary P, Sipkhan P. Understanding farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of pesticide use in Nepal: synthesis of a systematic literature review. Arch Agricult Environ Sci. 2022;7(2):278-87.

Sharma A, Kumar V, Shahzad B, Tanveer M, Sidhu GP, Handa N, et al. Worldwide pesticide usage and its impacts on ecosystem. SN Appl Sci. 2019;1(11):1-6.

Jallow MF, Awadh DG, Albaho MS, Devi VY, Thomas BM. Pesticide knowledge and safety practices among farm workers in Kuwait: results of a survey. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14(4):340.

Basnet N, Chidi CL. Impact of pesticide and fertilizer on human health: a case study in Godawari Area, Lalitpur, Nepal. Geo Base. 2019;6:65-76.

Keshavareddy G, Nagaraj K, Bai SK, Kulkarni LR. Pesticides usage and handling by the tomato growers in Ramanagara district of Karnataka, India- an analysis. Int J Curr Microbiol App Sci. 2018;7(4):3312-21.

Thapa S, Thapa B, Bhandari R, Jamkatel D, Acharya P, Rawal S, et al. Knowledge on pesticide handling practices and factors affecting adoption of personal protective equipment: a case of farmers from Nepal. Adv Agricult. 2021;2021.

Mequanint C, Getachew B, Mindaye Y, Amare DE, Guadu T, Dagne H. Practice towards pesticide handling, storage and its associated factors among farmers working in irrigations in Gondar town, Ethiopia, 2019. BMC Res Notes. 2019;12(1):1-6.

Issa Y, Sham’a FA, Nijem K, Bjertness E, Kristensen P. Pesticide use and opportunities of exposure among farmers and their families: cross-sectional studies 1998-2006 from Hebron governorate, occupied Palestinian territory. Environ Health. 2010;9(1):1-0.

Nganchamung T, Robson MG, Siriwong W. Chemical fertilizer use and acute health effects among chili farmers in Ubon Ratchathani province, Thailand. J Health Research. 2017;31(6):427-35.

Chitra GA, Muraleedharan VR, Swaminathan T, Veeraraghavan D. Use of pesticides and its impact on health of farmers in South India. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2006;12(3):228-33.

Oesterlund AH, Thomsen JF, Sekimpi DK, Maziina J, Racheal A, Jørs E. Pesticides knowledge, practice and attitude and how it affects the health of small-scale farmers in Uganda: a cross-sectional study. Afr Health Sci. 2014;14(2).

Kim J, Kim J, Cha ES, Ko Y, Kim DH. Work-related risk factors by severity for acute pesticides poisoning among male farmers in South Korea. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2013;10:1100-12.

Downloads

Published

2023-02-28

How to Cite

Janekunte, D. B., & Doddaiah, S. K. (2023). Magnitude of pesticide use and its health effects among chilly farmers of Dammuru village, Bellary district, Karnataka, India. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 10(3), 1091–1096. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20230621

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles