Farmers' Perception Regarding Environmental Risk : in Use of Pesticides

Farmers are using excessive amount of pesticides in a wrong manner with disproportionate dosage, which leads to a higher cost of cultivation as well as ecological imbalance. Hence, reducing the hazards arising due to pesticides needs immediate action to be taken by the environmentalists and all other concerned to mitigate the health hazards to the enormous human population. In a country like India where farming is a family affair, the problem of reaching the target group gets further compounded. The farming family as a whole needs to be educated, then only the damages could be checked or at least minimized to a safe level. Only when they start to understand and appreciate the risks involved in the use of pesticides, then only changes can take place in the desired direction i.e. IPM. A firsthand knowledge regarding existing status of Environmental Risk Literacy of farmers helpful to the environmentalists, entomologists, extension workers for concentrating their efforts to create favorable condition for Environmental Risk Literacy among farmers.