Assessment of the Pesticides Usage in Selected Local Government Areas in Oyo State, Nigeria

Background: Importance of agriculture cannot be over emphasized globally. It is fundamental to livelihood and Oyo State happens to be one of the major agricultural producing States in Nigeria with some processing companies. The use of pesticide poses serious threats to farmers, consumers and the environment. Controlling pests by using pesticides has created health issues for the farmers mainly due to improper handling of these toxic chemicals as well as the non-use of personal protective clothing. The indiscriminate disposal of pesticide containers also has serious environmental implications. Apart from the hazards of pesticide use on farmers and the environment, consumers also face huge health risk by consuming food crops with high pesticide residues.

Materials and Methods: One hundred farmers were selected randomly five from Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Oyo State and structured questionnaires were used for data collection.

Results: Almost all the respondents (94%) in the surveyed areas sprayed their crops with herbicides to weeds. The remaining 6% farmers use physical method (hand weeding), their decision is based on the small size of their farms. It was revealed from the results that most of the farmers (94%) had at least 2 acres of land for farming and farming happens to be their major occupation, which is their source of livelihood. Chemical pesticides were sprayed in combination (31 % farmers), and the efficacy of one may mask the inefficacy of others in the mixture. Most farmers (88%) focused on planting during the rainy season because of availability of water. This research also showed that 68% do not read nor follow the label instructions on the pesticides’ containers. Farmers (14%) used complete protective kits (overall-apron, hand gloves, face masks, safety goggles, nose masks and safety booths) while spraying. This unprotected spraying practice presents a great potential for exposure of farmers to chemicals from both skin contact and inhalation. Also, 54% talks when spraying, making them prone to inhalation and accidental ingestion of these toxic chemicals. There is also inadequate disposal of empty pesticides’ containers. Most of the crops that are often planted in these five LGAs belong to the “dirty dozen list’.