Assessment of knowledge and practice of pesticide application among beans and maize sellers in an urban South Western Nigerian market

Abstract

Pesticides impart a crucial role for the improvement of food production according to the requirement of world population. However, pesticide use also has created concern regarding effect on the environment and the potentially toxic residues remaining in the food chain. This study assessed the knowledge and practice of pesticide use among raw food sellers in Bodija market, Ibadan. A cross -sectional study was conducted using all the registered 400 Beans Sellers and 720 Maize Sellers in the market. Majority (60%) of the respondents had good knowledge on pesticide use. Most (66.7%) of the food sellers that sell in retails had good pesticide application practice while only 45.6% of those selling in whole sale had good practice. The association was statistically significant. (χ 2 = 7.977, p=0.019). After adjusting for other variables, the predictors of good practice in pesticide application were level of education and the type of food sold. Keywords: Knowledge, Practice, Pesticide applications, Beans and maize sellers, Nigerian market Afr. J. Biomed. Res . Vol. 22 (January, 2019); 27- 32