Pesticide Usage and Safety among Small Scale Farmers in Meru Central District, Kenya

Abstract

Pesticides have been known to be toxic to man, other organisms and to the environment. Maintaining proper and acceptable handling practices can immensely reduce the adverse effects of such pesticides. This research study has established that majority of small scale farmers in Meru Central District are not informed about proper methods of handling pesticides. This study aimed at investigating whether small scale farmers had adequate knowledge before applying, when mixing & applying pesticides and finally during the disposal of the unused pesticides or empty containers. From the research it was established that most farmers did not have records on pesticide application hence the findings relied on subjective opinions and estimations rather than actual records. A simple random sampling technique was applied and 90 households were enumerated. The data collected were manually entered in a computer system spread sheets, and descriptive statistics performed on the same. It was found out that majority of the small scale farmers did not adhere to the recommended instructions before application, when mixing and applying and finally when disposing the unused pesticides or the empty containers.