A Cross-Sectional Survey on the Awareness of Pesticide Labels and Pesticide Safety Pictograms among Paddy Farming In South India

Background: Hazardous pesticides continue to be used in the farming industry purely because of economic reasons. Farmers need to understand this risk. Pesticide labels and pictograms were enforced to propagate this risk information to the farmers in a simple way. However, their effectiveness has not been evaluated in India. This study attempts to evaluate the efficacy of these labels and pictograms to help farmers understand the pesticide risks. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 172 paddy farmers in Kancheepuram district of Tamil-Nadu, India. Their interpretation of four pesticide labels and fifteen pesticide safety pictograms were analyzed using (SPSS version 20) for descriptive statistics. Chi-square test was used for dichotomic variables. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Of the 172 farmers interviewed, 93% were unaware of the pesticide regulations and 72.6% had never attempted to read the labels. Only, the red color in the label was identified correctly by 66.1% of farmers. Four out of fifteen pictograms were interpreted correctly by more than 60% of the farmers. Educational status had a significant influence on the way the labels and pictograms were interpreted. Conclusion: We need to consider restructuring these labels in a more scientific way. Instead of a top-down approach, we need to start working at the grass root level if we tend to have better appreciated labels. It is recommended that plans and strategies should be devised to educate the farmers about the labels and pictograms.