The Use and Abuse of Pesticides: its Impact on Human Health and Ecology

Abstract

In agriculture sector of Larkana, chemical pesticides has increasingly adopted. Pesticides are used to control pests and insects which attack on crops to harm them. The main objectives of the study is to provide detail understanding of farmers’ opinion and perception about the use of chemical pesticides. This research also examines the impact of chemical pesticides on farmer’s health and environment. The research sample includes thirty farmers who use chemical pesticides. Qualitative research methods such as participant observation, interviews and case study method were used to conduct the research. The analysis of the research findings elucidates that farmers prefer the use of chemical pesticides due to its positive impact on crop productivity. Farmers believing that pesticides having both positive and negative effects to some extent have largely positive perception about their use. They are not well acquainted with the protective measures while using pesticides. The application of pesticides cause minor health inconvenience to serious health hazards to farmers including cancer, skin burn and neurological effects. The few death cases due to pesticides are also reported. Besides their impact on farmer’s health, chemical pesticides contaminate soil, surface and ground water, endanger eco-friendly insects, animals, therefore, misbalance ecology. Key words: Agriculture, Pesticide, Health, Perception, Ecology