The Use and Management of Pesticides in Paddy Rice and Durian Cultivation in Phong Dien District, Can Tho city, Vietnam

Abstract

This study investigates the current status of pesticides use and
management in paddy rice and durian Ri6 farming in Phong Dien
district, Can Tho city, Vietnam by interviewing 60 farmers directly in
this area. The results showed that the farmers often applied various
types of pesticides belonging to toxicity categories II, III and IV
according to World Health Organization (WHO) classification with
95 active ingredients. The paddy rice and durian Ri6 farming used 54
and 41 active ingredients, respectively. Among the active ingredients
used, the Carbosulfan, Trichlorfon, Glyphosate, Paraquat, 2.4D,
Acephate were banned from use. The frequency of spraying pesticides
in durian farming model was 8.8 times higher than that of the paddy
rice. Pesticide bottles and packages were often improperly handled by
burning, burying, throwing in the fields, mixing with domestic waste
or selling to vendors. Although the knowledge of the farmers is
relatively good, the environmental and their health impacts were often
neglected or considered unimportant. This leads to urgent need to
raise awareness of the farmers in using and managing pesticides and
its wastes to ensure sustainable agriculture development.