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An Analysis of Pesticide Use for Rice Pest Management in Bangladesh

Sultana PARVEEN
Student, Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama, Higashi Hiroshima, 739-8529, Japan

Nobukazu NAKAGOSHI
Professor, Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama, Higashi Hiroshima, 739-8529, Japan

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The use of pesticide has been increased 400% per acre and its cost increased 600% during the last couple of decades. Between 1985 and 1990 the sales of pesticide became double. At present, 84 pesticides active ingredients belonging to 242 trade names have been registered in Bangladesh. Out of the total pesticide use, over 80% are used in rice fields. The rapid increase of pesticide use is causing detrimental effect on environment and health of farm workers and consumers. Pesticides are contaminating ground and surface water, which is causing depletion of inland fishing resources and ecosystem. Therefore, the present study evaluates the level of farmers' pesticide use practiced to rice pest control, their knowledge and perception of the impact of pesticides on environment. A questionnaire survey has been conducted to collect the data from the farmers. Data have been collected from 86 rice farmers of Bangladesh. The study revealed that the respondent farmers used mostly insecticides at the rate of 1 to 10 kg active ingredients per hectare of cropland and the time of application varied from 1 to 4 sprays per crops. The richer farmers used pesticide more frequently as compared to small and medium farmers. But most of the pesticides belong to extremely and highly hazardous category as classified by WHO. Considering the cropping intensity and toxicity of the pesticide, the environment and farmers health are at high risk under the pesticides contamination. The average level of knowledge and perception of the respondents was found poor to moderate. In general the respondents showed favorable attitude towards the pesticide use. Among the insecticides used by the farmers, Bashudin 10 G, Diazinon 60 EC, Sumithion 60 EC and Padan 50 SP have already been banned for use on rice in other developing countries. The use and availability of Bashudin, an obsolete pesticides indicates that existing pesticide laws and regulations are not strictly enforced in relation to import, formulation, repackaging, distribution, advertising and use of pesticides. Therefore, in Bangladesh the laws and regulations of pesticide should be enforced more strictly and a new policy should be enacted to educate the farmers regarding the harmful impacts of pesticides. There is an urgent need to assess the impact of pesticides on human health and pollution level of pesticides in soil, water, and air in Bangladesh

Keywords: Environment, Impact, Pesticide, Perception, Rice farmers.

Location: Kushtia, Comilla and Manikgonj

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Insecticide

Objectives:

This study was formulated to know the pesticide use practice as well as to evaluate the farmer's knowledge, attitude and perceptions regarding the impact of pesticides on environment

Methodology:

Study area: The study area comprised of three districts such as, Kushtia, Comilla and Manikgonj. Comilla is located in the 120-kilometer southeast of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. In terms of Agro-Ecological Zone (AEZ) Comilla belongs to AEZ 19:Meghna Estuarine Floodplain Zone. Kushtia islocated 257-kilometer northwest of Dhaka and belongs to AEZ 11: High Ganges river Floodplain area. Manikgonj is in the 50-kilo-meter northwest of Dhaka and belongs to AEZ8: Jamuna Floodplain Zone. The typical soil type of these three regions is loamy to clayey, which is suitable for the rice production. The area under rice cultivation of Comilla district in 1995 was 2,53,885 hectare, 3% of national average and rice production share was 4% of national average. Whereas, the area of rice production in Kushtia and Manikgonj accounts for 2% of national average as of 1995. The cropping intensity of Comilla is 194.90%, Kushtia 195.77% and in Manikgonj is 175.59% (BBS, 1995). Besides rice as the major crop, the important farm products are vegetables in Comilla, tabacco in Kushtia and potatoes in Manikgonj. These three regions have good communication and marketing facilities. The farmers of these regions managed to produce three crops per year, with at least two rice crop. More than 90% of the farmers are producing rice as the main crop. Among the rice farmers about 70% are small farmers (0.02 to 1.00 hectare of land holdings) 25% are medium farmers (1.01 to 3.03 ha of land holdings) and only 5% are large farmers (above 3.03 ha of landholdings). Therefore, majority of farmers are in the subsistence level, produce food crops mainly for the family consumption. Only a small proportion of farmers (medium and large) is producing rice for commercial purpose and most of them try to use high input of High Yielding Varieties (HYVs), fertilizer, pesticide and irrigation for more profit. Whereas, the majority of small farmers are not able to use high level of input. Data collection:The rice farmers who were using chemical pesticide as a pest control measure, were purposively selected as the respondent of the study. Three villages were selected from the three locations such as, village Khoshbash, thana Barura of district Comilla, village Bramanpara, thana Bheramara of District Kushtia and Chandirchar village of Manikgonj Sadar Thana. A total of 86 farmers, 40 from Comilla, 25 from Kushtia and 21 from Manikgonj were selected randomly on the basis of the total number of farmers of the specific area. The face to face interview of the farmers was taken using a structured and pretested questionnaire.

Source of Information: Journal of International Development and Cooperation, Vol.8, No.1, 2001, pp. 107–126

Article Link (Online Journal): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237754944_An_Analysis_of_Pesticide_Use_for_Rice_Pest_Management_in_Bangladesh

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

In Bangladesh in the recent years growing use of pesticides by farmers, unaware of the negative effects pose a big challenge to health, environment and the declining economy of the country. Crop land is a major source of sediment and the sediment resulting from soil erosion is regarded as the largest pollutant that affects water quality. The occurrence of fish epidemics in different parts of the country is apprehended by the scientist and local people that fish mortalities in the open water of Bangladesh have occurred due to uncontrolled use of pesticides in irrigated rice field (Ahsan, 1990). Some extremely hazardous pesticides are used in Bangladesh, although these are prohibited in the producing countries. Among the insecticides used by the Bangladeshi farmers, Bashudin 10 G, Diazinon 60 EC, Sumithion 60 EC and Padan 50 SP have already been banned for use on rice in Indonesia in 1986. But in Bangladesh, these are not restricted yet. Moreover, in Bangladesh the existing pesticide laws and regulations are not strictly enforced in relation to import, formulation, repackaging, distribution, advertising and use of pesticides. Therefore, obsolete pesticide like Bashudin are also still being using by the farmers and available in market even in low price compared to others (Rola and Widawsky, 1998). The environmental degradation linked to agriculture is the impact of toxicity from improper pesticide use. Here, the damage is less on agricultural productivity than the people who may be inadequately protected from the chemicals are (Rama swamy, 1995). The greatest threat of toxic exposure is from the used crop, which puts both producers and consumers at risk. The other type of toxicity-related damage is Sultana PARVEEN and Nobukazu NAKAGOSHI 124 from pesticide run-off, and especially from pesticide residues in ground water. Therefore, modifications in regulations concerning pesticide handling and application will minimize most pesticide-related environmental and health damage. The hazardous pesticide should be withdrawn from the market as early as possible. The provision of penalty for violating the regulations might be included in the registration terms and conditions. Along with strict regulation, the farmers the end user should be educated to be perceived the probable impact of their practice towards the health and environment. The farmers should be provided with proper training and mass media campaign.

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