Farmers' Perceptions of PesticideEfficacy: Reflections on the Importanceof Pest Management Practices Adoption

摘要

Few integrated pest management programs pay specific attention tothe decision-making process of farmers in choosing and applyingpest management interventions. Thus, practical recommendationsprovided through extension services frequently fail to be adoptedby farmers. A survey of farmers was conducted in the rural areaof Arsanjan County in Fars province of southern Iran to explorefarmers’ perceptions of pesticide efficacy and to evaluate whetherthese perceptions are reflected in attitudes towards the importanceof pest management practices adoption. The study revealed two distinctgroups of farmers: group A with farmers who clearly had apositive opinion about the efficacy of the current pesticide products(i.e., they felt that current pesticides are generally effective), andgroup B with farmers who had a rather negative opinion about theefficacy of the current pesticide products (i.e., they felt that currentpesticides are not so effective). Farmers in group A considered IPMprinciples to be the most important of three areas of pest managementpractices, they were aware of the potential health hazardsof pesticide use, and they were interested in knowing about otheralternatives for pest control besides the use of pesticides. By contrast,farmers in group B rated IPM principles as less important,they felt that pesticide use is the sole method of pest control, andthey tended to increase pesticide use every year to control pests.Moreover, farmers in group B were not aware of the potential health hazards of pesticide use. Perceptions of pesticide efficacywere found to play a major role in the behavior of farmers towardsthe use of pesticides and the adoption of alternative methods ofpest control such as IPM. Evidently, farmers’ perceptions of pesticideefficacy should receive special attention by extension servicesas a critical point of intervention for rational pesticide use andadoption of IPM programs.