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Awareness of Health Implications of Agrochemical Use: Effects on Maize Production in Ejura-Sekyedumas 时间:2017-06-30 14:16 来源:未知作者:admin 点击: 次 Abstract:This study assessed factors that affect awareness of health implications of agrochemical use and its effects on maize production in Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipality of Ashanti Region, Ghana. One hundred and fifty-four (154) maize farmers were randomly sampled from the municipality. The study used awareness indicators to estimate an index representing farmers’ awareness levels of health implications of agrochemical use. An ordered logit compliment with multivariate linear regression model was used to identify the drivers of farmers’ awareness level of health implications of agrochemical use. Also, a multivariate linear regression model was used to analyze the effects of health implications of agrochemical use on maize output. On average, the respondents have the moderate awareness level of health implications of agrochemical use (0.578). The awareness level was significantly explained by education, the number of children in school, ownership of TV/radio, experience in agrochemicals use, and farm size. The multivariate linear regression results showed that awareness levels of health implications of agrochemical use increase maize output. It is therefore recommended that interventions aimed at increasing farmers’ awareness levels of health implications of agrochemicals use should focus on educating farmers through interactive radio discussion and training sessions on the field and incorporate safety use of agrochemical in our educational curriculum.
1. Introduction
Agriculture is one of the principal sectors of Ghana’s economy. The country has for the past few years experienced continuous decline in GDP contribution from the sector, but it still remains the foundation on which the country’s economy rests. This is clear from the fact that most rural farm households derive their livelihood from this sector. The sector contributed 22.0% against 28.6% from the industrial sector and 49.5% from the services sector to the GDP of the country [1]. In Ghana, the agricultural sector is principally dominated by small-scale farmers. Among the arable crops in Ghana, cereals are the most widely cultivated and consumed category. Maize continues to lead as the most important staple food in Ghana. This is because maize is very important for improving food security and poverty reduction as it is the staple food for most Ghanaians. In 2013, 1,764,477 MT of maize was produced and out of this value, Ashanti Region which was the third largest production region recorded a value of 201,786 MT [2]. Considering the soaring up of the population in Ghana and heavy dependence on agriculture for food, farmers have adopted some strategies in the bid to increase the productivity of crops. These are an intensive use of land, agrochemical usage, irrigation, disease and pest resistant varieties, and so forth. Farmers are highly motivated to using these strategies due to the emphasis placed by most agricultural development policies in Ghana which suggest the use of external inputs such as machinery and agrochemicals as the panacea to increasing food productivity. This has led to increasing the use of synthetic agrochemicals instead of the biological, cultural, and mechanical method for boosting production, controlling pest, weed, and disease [3].
Agrochemical is any chemical that is used in agricultural production to improve productivity and control of pest and diseases [4]. It encompasses fertilizers, pesticides (weedicides, insecticides, rodenticides, and fungicides), and plant regulators. In the bid to control maize pests such as stem borers, armyworms, silkworm, and weevils, weeds, and maize diseases such as downy mildew, maize rust, leaf blight, and leaf spot, for improvement in productivity, maize farmers have over the years resorted to the use of agrochemicals. The types of agrochemicals used are grouped into pesticides (fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, rodenticide, etc.) and fertilizers.
According to Horna et al. [5], the use of pesticides by farmers to control weeds, increase agricultural productivity, and preserve agricultural produce has reached a crescendo thereby calling for urgent attention. There are concerns about the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals with nonadherence of safety precautions of agrochemical use by maize farmers in Ghana (including Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipality). The use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) remains a thing of choice to these maize farmers. Other precautionary measures like avoiding of eating, drinking, and smoking during agrochemical application is still not adhered to by farmers. Instead of farmers properly disposing of empty containers of agrochemicals, they use them for fetching water, keep cooked food in them, store seed stocks for next season usage, and so forth.