Abstract

                                Rice is the major crop cultivated in southern India and farmers resort to using pesticides intensively to realize higher productivity. The present study aimed to monitor the pesticide use behavior of the farmers, mainly relies on pesticides as a key component in pest management. This study was carried out in four southern districts of Tamil Nadu, where paddy is grown for almost two seasons in a year and a total of 75 farmers who rely on pesticide for their pest management were identified through the local pesticide dealers for the study. Rice stem borer (100%) and leaf folder (93.33%) are the key pests in the region and in all the districts surveyed, 92 percent of the farmers have indicated the rice earhead bug as a major problem during the reproductive phase for which 20 percent of them continue to take-up spraying across milking and grain maturing stages of the crop. It is apparent that the farmers in this area have the habit of using a tank mixture of pesticides and 72 per cent of the farmers interviewed use insecticides in combination with fungicides. They also use synthetic pyrethroids, which are not recommended in rice crops. Most of them (72.33%) throw the used pesticide container in open space, and 24 per cent use the containers for household and farm use. The study indicates an urgent need for creating awareness among this pesticide intense farmers to have sensible use of pesticides form minimizing pesticide residue preserving the rice ecosystem.

Key words : Rice; Oryza sativa; Pesticide use behavior; Tamil Nadu