Determinants of Safety and Health Behaviors of Wheat Farmers towards the Use of Chemical Pesticides in Qorveh County

International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development

مقاله 4، دوره 13، شماره 3، آذر 2023، صفحه 227-240   

نوع مقاله: Research Article

نویسندگان

Bahram Imani^{* 1}؛ Abolmohammad Bondori²؛ Omid Jamshidi³

¹Associate Professor, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

²M.Sc. Graduate, Agriculture Management, Visiting Researcher, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

³Assistant Professor, Sari Agricultural and Natural Resource University, Sari, Iran

چکیده

The poisoning of farm workers with pesticides is a common job hazard caused by the application of pesticides, especially in developing countries. Agriculture is directly related to the environment including water resources, and farming behaviors can entail a plethora of positive or negative effects on these vital resources. So, the present study aimed to explore the safety and health behaviors of wheat farmers towards the use of chemical pesticides in Qorveh County in Kurdistan province, Iran. The statistical population of this applied research consisted of all irrigated wheat farmers in the 2019-2020 crop year (N = 1700) in Qorveh County. The sample size was determined to be 170 people by Cochran’s formula, and the random multistage technique was adopted for data collection. The main research instrument was a questionnaire whose content validity was checked by a panel of experts and the average variance extracted (AVE) index. Also, its reliability was estimated by Cronbach’s alpha and the Cumulative Reliability (CR) coefficient. The results of the structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that the variables of the information source, attitude, and knowledge of chemical pesticide application accounted for 79 percent of the variance in the factors affecting the safety and health behaviors of wheat farmers as to the application of these pesticides. Considering the significant relationship that information source, attitude, and knowledge have with safety and health behaviors, it is recommended to hold training courses to familiarize wheat farmers with the hazards of conventional farming practices and the benefits of IPM practices by the organizations in charge, e.g. Agricultural Jihad Organization. This will foster a positive attitude among the farmers to adopt safety and healthy behaviors.

کلیدواژه‌ها

Attitude؛ chemical pesticide؛ knowledge؛ safety and health behavior؛ wheat farmers

مراجع

Aghilinejad, M., Farshad, A., Naghavi, M., & Haghani, H. (2006). Assessment of the relationship between pesticide and their effects on farmer health in various states. Iran Occupational Health, 3 (1), 81-85.

Agmas, B., & Adugna, M. (2020). Attitudes and practices of farmers with regard to pesticide use in NorthWest Ethiopia. Cogent Environmental Science, 6(1), 1791462.

Agricultural Jihad Organization, Kurdistan. (2019). Available at; http://kurdistan.agri-jahad.ir/

Al Zadjali, S., Morse, S., Chenoweth, J., & Deadman, M. (2015). Personal safety issues related to the use of pesticides in agricultural production in the Al-Batinah region of Northern Oman. Science of the Total Environment, 502, 457-461.

Bakand, S., Dehghani, Y., Gohari, M., Mosadegh, M., & Mirmohammadi, S. (2012). Exposure assessment of greenhouse workers with anticholinesterase pesticides by biological monitoring. Iran Occupational Health, 9 (3), 1-10

Bigdeli, A., & Sedighi, H. (2010). A study of the behavior of Ghazvin Province’s extension workers towards adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. Iranian Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development Research, 41-2 (3), 104-412.

Bondori, A. (2018). Mechanisms to manage chemical pesticide use by farmers in Moghan plain, Ardabil province (M.Sc. Thesis). Ardabil, Iran: Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mohaghegh-e Ardabili University Press.

Bondori, A., Bagheri, A., & Sookhtanlou, M. (2018). Analysis of Moghan Plain farmers’ health-safety behavior towards using chemical pesticides. Iranian Agricultural Extension and Education Journal, 14 (2), 161-183.

Cecchini, M., Bedini, R., Mosetti, D., Marino, S., & Stasi, S. (2018). Safety knowledge and changing behavior in agricultural workers: an assessment model applied in Central Italy. Safety and health at work, 9(2), 164-171.

Chen, W. (2013). The effects of different types of trust on consumer perceptions of food safety: An empirical study of consumers in Beijing Municipality, China. China Agricultural Economic Review. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17561371311294757/full/html?fullSc=1

Cochran, W. G. (1942). Sampling theory when the sampling-units are of unequal sizes. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 37(218), 199-212.

Coman, M. A., Marcu, A., Chereches, R. M., Leppälä, J., & Van den Broucke, S. (2020). Educational interventions to improve safety and health literacy among agricultural workers: a systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(3), 1114.

Damalas, C. A., & Abdollahzadeh, G. (2016). Farmers' use of personal protective equipment during handling of plant protection products: determinants of implementation. Science of the Total Environment, 571, 730-736.

Eurofound (2017), Sixth European Working Conditions Survey — Overview report (2017 update), Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.

Fan, L., Niu, H., Yang, X., Qin, W., Bento, C. P., Ritsema, C. J., & Geissen, V. (2015). Factors affecting farmers' behaviour in pesticide use: Insights from a field study in northern China. Science of the Total Environment, 537, 360-368.

Gaber, S., & Abdel-Latif, S. H. (2012). Effect of education and health locus of control on safe use of pesticides: a cross sectional random study. Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 7(1), 1-7.

Ghalavandi, S., Nourallah Nourivandi, A., & Ommani, A. (2018). Analyzing the safety behaviour of summer crop farmers in Andimeshk Township in using chemical pesticides. Agricultural Extension and Education Research, 4 (40), 13-22.

Ghasemi, S., & Karami, E. (2009). Attitudes and behaviors about pesticides use among greenhouse workers in Fars province. Agricultural Economics & Development, 23 (1), 28-40.

Ghobadi, S., Chizari, M., & Sedeghi, H. (2016). The analysis of farmer's behaviour and strategies in dealing with drought (The case study: Kermanshah Township). Journal of Regional Planning, 6 (21), 143-154.

Gün, S., & Kan, M. (2009). Pesticide Use in Turkish Greenhouses: Health and Environmental Consciousness. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, 18(4). 607-615

Hooshmandan Moghaddam Fard, Z., & Shams, A. (2016). Factors affecting pesticide consumption behavior of greenhouse owners in Zanjan province. Iranian Agricultural Extension and Education Journal, 12 (1), 119-131.

Hutter, H. P., Kundi, M., Lemmerer, K., Poteser, M., Weitensfelder, L., Wallner, P., & Moshammer, H. (2018). Subjective symptoms of male workers linked to occupational pesticide exposure on coffee plantations in the Jarabacoa Region, Dominican Republic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(10), 2099.

Isin, S., & Yildirim, I. (2007). Fruit-growers’ perceptions on the harmful effects of pesticides and their reflection on practices: The case of Kemalpasa, Turkey. Crop Protection, 26(7), 917-922.

Jamshidi, N., & Rezaei, R. (2017). A study on wheat growers' knowledge and attitude towards occupational health and safety behavior (The case of Zanjan County). Proceedings of First National Conference on Modern Ideas and Technologies in Geographical Science (pp. 1-5). Zanjan, Iran: Zanjan University Press.

Jones, A., Jakob, M., & McNamara, J. (2020). Review of the future of agriculture and occupational safety and health (OSH). Foresight on new and emerging risks in OSH.

Kalantari, Kh. 2013. Structural equation modeling in socio-economic research, Farhang_Saba press, Tehran, Iran.

Karami, G., Bijani, M., & Salamat, E. (2015). Agricultural experts' safety knowledge toward work with agricultural machinery in south west of Iran. Journal of Occupational Hygiene Engineering, 1 (4), 30-39.

Karunamoorthi, K., & Yirgalem, A. (2013). Insecticide risk indicators and occupational insecticidal poisoning in indoor residual spraying. Health Scope, 1(4), 165-172.

Mahboobi, M., & Ahmadigorji, H. (2017). The environmental attitude and using chemical toxins among rice growers (Case study: Esfivard-shoorab Rural District, Sari County). Human & Environment, 15 (2), 93-105.

Molaei, S. (2013). A study on cucumber farmers' attitude, intention, and behavior as to integrated pest management in Lorestan province (M.Sc. Thesis). Ramin, Khuzestan province, Iran: Department of Agronomy and Rural Construction, Faculty of Agricultural Extension and Education, Agricultural and Natural Resources University of Ramin.

Nazarian, M., Ajili, A., & Rezaei Moghaddam, K. (2009). A study on vegetable farmers' knowledge, attitude, and safe behavior towards the use of pesticides in Shush. Proceedings of 3rd National Conference in Agricultural and Environment Extension Education (pp. 1-14). Mashhad: Iranian Agricultural Extension and Education Association.

Neghab, M., Alipour, H., Naziaghdam, R., Salahshour, N., Kazemi, M., & Rejaiefard, A. (2013). The effects of exposure to pesticides on the fecundity status of farm workers resident in a rural region of Fars province, southern Iran. Tibbi-i-kar, 5 (3), 58-66.

Sabzian Mollaei, K., Ajili, A., Mohammadzadeh, S., Yazdanpanah, S., & Farzani, M. (2015). Examine the attitudes and behaviors of farmers to apply integrated pest management by using the developed theory of planned behavior. Agricultural Extension and Education Research, 8 (2), 57-70.

Salameh, P.R., Baldi, I., Brochard, P. and Saleh, B.A., 2004. Pesticides in Lebanon: a knowledge, attitude, and practice study. Environmental Research, 94(1),1-6.

Sankoh, A. I. (2016). An assessment of pesticide use, contamination and impact on the environment and the health of people in Sierra Leone (Doctoral dissertation, Lancaster University).

Sookhtanlou, M., Allahyari, M. S., & Surujlal, J. (2022). Health risk of potato farmers exposed to overuse of chemical pesticides in Iran. Safety and Health at Work, 13(1), 23-31.

Statistical Centre of Iran (2021), available at; https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/0/News/1397/jamiat.pdf

Weng, C. Y., & Black, C. (2015). Taiwanese farm workers’ pesticide knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and clothing practices. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 25(6), 685-696.

Yazdanpanah, M., Rahimi Feyzabad, F., & Abbaszade, K. (2019). Factors affecting avoiding the use of pesticides to greenhouse vegetables in Bandar Abbas District (Iran). International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 9(3), 237-247.