Abstract
This study assessed the harmful and beneficial effects of pesticide use in maize production. It also assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of farmers about the use of pesticides. Data for the study were collected from 120 randomly sampled maize farmers across nine (9) local government areas of Oyo state. Majority (65%) found pesticides to be harmful while 39 per cent found it to be beneficial. Results further shows diverse attitude of farmers to pesticide use. About 95 per cent make use of hygienic practices while large numbers (66%) neglect safety rules due to poor education and awareness. Overall, there is evidence of excessive use of pesticide by farmers which consequently affects their health negatively. The use of pesticide is also found to contaminate water body. Major policy thrusts for devising pesticide regulation and effective implementation, increasing farmers' awareness of the effects of pesticide use, and increase provision safety materials are suggested to safeguard maize farmers in their pursuit of agricultural livelihoods. Key words: Pesticide use, Maize, Farmers' awareness
Highlights
IntroductionIn 2015 this population size has reached 90.08 million as projected by the CSA (2015) based on the 2013 Inter-Censal Population Survey (ICPS)
The average sorghum yield produced by sample households was 12.82 quintal per ha, with a standard deviation of 7.94, maximum of 36 and minimum of 3 quintal per ha which is dependent variable in the production function (Table 2)
The fourth test conducted was, given such functional forms for the sample households; it was considered whether the technical efficiency levels were better estimated using a half normal or a truncated normal distribution of μi The results indicated that the half normal distribution was appropriate for the sample households in the study area as the calculated likelihood ratio (LR) ratio value of 0.06 was less than the critical 2-value of 2.71 at 5% significance level
Summary
In 2015 this population size has reached 90.08 million as projected by the CSA (2015) based on the 2013 Inter-Censal Population Survey (ICPS). This growing population requires better economic performance than ever before at least to ensure food security. The agricultural sector in the country is largely small-scale, subsistence oriented and heavily dependent on rainfall, which is highly variable spatially and temporally. It is a dominant sector in Ethiopia and is accounting for about 45% of GDP and 80% for export commodity. About 85% of Ethiopians livelihood depends on agriculture (MoFEC (Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation), 2012)
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