Protective behavior in chemical spraying among farmers of northern Iran

Abolmohammad Bondori, Asghar Bagheri () and Christos A. Damalas ()
Additional contact information
Abolmohammad Bondori: University of Mohaghegh Ardabili
Asghar Bagheri: University of Mohaghegh Ardabili
Christos A. Damalas: Democritus University of Thrace

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2024, vol. 26, issue 7, No 52, 17673-17685

Abstract: Abstract Understanding farmers’ protective behavior in the use of pesticides as well as inter-related factors affecting behavior is essential for improving safety in farming. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the levels of personal protection of farmers during pesticide handling, along with knowledge and perception of risks by pesticides, frequency of poisoning experience, use of information, and their effects on safety behavior in rural Iran. Forty-six percent (46.0%) of the farmers reported totally unsafe behavior in pesticide handling, with poor use of protective gear, and 20.0% reported potentially unsafe behavior, with only occasional use of protective gear. Training in pesticide use and integrated pest management (IPM) education promoted the use of protective gear. Almost half of the farmers (49.4%) reported some kind of pesticide poisoning experience, with dizziness being the most common symptom. On a five point scale (1–5), farmers had low knowledge of pesticide risk (mean = 2.75) and moderate perception of pesticide risk (mean = 3.26). Similarly, the use of information was low (mean = 2.10), with pesticide retailers being the most popular source of farmers’ information. Structural equation modeling showed that risk knowledge was positively associated with risk perception. These two variables along with poisoning experience and use of information described 85% of the variability in farmers’ use of protective gear, highlighting the inter-connection of those variables and their crucial role in the protective behavior of farmers during chemical spraying. In conclusion, improving farmers’ knowledge of pesticide risk through better information is crucial for promoting farmers’ protective behavior in pesticide use.

Keywords: Knowledge; Attitude; Practice; Pesticide toxicity; Risk perception (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-023-03355-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:endesu:v:26:y:2024:i:7:d:10.1007_s10668-023-03355-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10668

DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-03355-1

Access Statistics for this article

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development is currently edited by Luc Hens

More articles in Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().