Effects of Biopesticide Use on Agricultural Production and Health of Rural Farmers in Imo State, Nigeria

Résumé fourni par la source

The objective of this paper is to ascertain Effects of Biopesticide Use on Agricultural Production and Health of Rural Farmers in Imo State, Nigeria using standard appropriate methods, including structured questionnaire. The results showed that several sources of information on bio-pesticides exist, such as extension officers (74.8%), marketing companies (84%), fellow farmers (88%), and other sources. Several bio-pesticides exist, such as neem oil, neem extract, bitter leaf extract, bitter kola extract, hot pepper extract, and lemon grass for the control of insect pest infection. The use of bio-pesticides is perceived to have the following general effects, based on a mean response of 2.50; ability to breakdown or degrade quickly (M=2.58), non-toxic to an organism (M=2.64), has lower residue level (M=3.0), no pest resilience (M=3.45), improvement in plant health (M=2.81), seed treatment (M=3.41) among others. On health, it is less toxic to human health (M=2.81), reduces the risk of chemical toxins (M=2.74), reduces population risk (M=2.85), reduces environmental contaminants (M=2.91), among others. The following challenges present themselves: high cost, inadequate savings, unavailability of bio-pesticides when needed, low level of awareness, and slow pace of supply, among other challenges.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.