Environmental Contamination by Agrochemicals and Its Indiscriminate Use by Dry Season Farmers in Sudan Savannah of Katsina State

Abstract

A field survey was conducted in five dry season irrigation sites consisting of Ajiwa, Zobe, Jibia, Sabke, and Sulma dams in Katsina state. The survey was carried out to find out dry-season farmers’ attitudes on the use and misuse of agrochemicals. A multi-choice structured questionnaire was administered to one hundred (100) purposively selected dry-season farmers. Data collected were analysed and interpreted using descriptive statistics in the form of bar charts of the SAS package. The result showed that many dry-season farmers obtained information on the safe use of agrochemicals from pesticide retailers (90%). The market recorded the highest (98%) of farmers purchasing agrochemicals. Most dry-season farmers throw away empty pesticide containers after use (91%) while 7% and 4% respectively burn and deep bury these containers. In others, some farmers rewash these containers for household use or resell them to hawkers. Symptoms of pesticide toxicity after application were identified with the highest percentage being recorded by skin rashes (90%). Based on the findings of this study, a poor attitude toward throwing away empty containers could serve as a chance of increased chemical residues in the environment and a high risk of attack especially by the vulnerable people in the study area. It is therefore recommended that dry season farmers be encouraged to purchase agrochemicals from reputable agents to avoid purchasing adulterated or expired chemicals and dispose of empty containers appropriately and hygienically by environmental standards.