Pesticide Use among Farmers in Sokoto, North Western Nigeria: A Descriptive Study

Aims: The study aimed to assess the pattern of pesticide use and application practices among farmers and factors influencing such practices in Sokoto, North western Nigeria.

Study Design: It was a cross sectional descriptive study.

Place and Duration of Study: it was carried out in April 2017 among crop farmers in the 4 agricultural zones of Sokoto state.

Methodology: A two stage sampling technique was used to recruit 220 farmers. A semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data which was imputed and analyzed using SPSS IBM version 20.

Results: The mean age of the respondents was 35.95 ± 14.37 years. Only 10 (4.5%) were females. Most 143 (65.3%) used pesticides in the past year with 63 (45.7%) using it occasionally. More than half 83 (60.1%) attested that when purchasing pesticides, they were supplied with safety instructions but only 37 (26.8%) followed the instruction. Of the 220 respondents, only 19 (13.8%) mixed pesticides with hands wearing gloves while majority 131 (94.9%) applied pesticides by spraying. Unsafe practices identified were eating food while spraying 35 (26.7%), storage of empty pesticide can at home 77 (55.8%), using the empty pesticide bottle to store water at home. Factors found to be statistically significantly associated with pesticide use were respondents’ age (X2 = 83.35; P < 0.05); method of farming (X2 = 3.75; P = 0.05) and years of working (X2 = 64.48; P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The study identified that most of the farmers used pesticides, did not follow instructions while spraying and exhibited some unsafe practices while using the pesticide. It is therefore imperative that the farmers are educated on the risks associated with pesticide use and how to prevent such risks.