Use of pesticides in family farming: risk perception and behavior of family farmers in the Vale do Salitre, Juazeiro-BA

Abstract

Currently, agriculture is dependent on the use of pesticides in the field, including in family-based agriculture. This situation brings an alert about how these chemical products are being used and their effects on the health of the worker and on the environment. In this sense, the present work aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices of family farmers from the União das Associações do Vale do Salitre (UAVS), with regard to the safe use of pesticides and disposal of empty containers. Semi-structured questionnaires were applied, through interviews, to 31 family farmers, over 18 years old and who used pesticides. The questionnaire dealt with issues related to the production process, use of pesticides and farmers' behaviors in relation to pesticides and disposal of packaging. The data were treated through the described statistics, application of Ward's grouping method and Person's correlation coefficient. The results showed that most participating family farmers use 2-3 different pesticides and do not follow the grace period for new applications. Despite the good perception of risk, where 100% of farmers claim that pesticides can harm their health, only 61% of them used some PPE. It was possible to observe that there is a negative correlation (-0.36152), with a significance of 5%, between the farmers' age and the number of pesticides used. Regarding the disposal of empty pesticide containers, it was found that only 10% of participants returned the containers to points of sale. It is possible to state that the participating farmers' perception of risk does not translate into safe behavior in the handling of pesticides. Therefore, it is necessary to implement continuous training programs that address issues related to production, marketing, individual protection and environmental protection in this region.