|
4. Household Storage and Disposal: A picture of a typical house is drawn showing
the safe and unsafe storage and disposal methods found
during the survey. The surveyed households are then
analyzed by child, food, water and livestock safety, as
demonstrated below.
5.
Signs and Symptoms: are usually displayed
on a body map drawn by the farmer data collectors. We
highlight the signs and symptoms that are a product of
nervous system toxicity
with reference back to the table on pesticides by
chemical family. Farmers are warned that if they notice any
of these effects they should stop spraying immediately and
take a full bath with soap.
Use
of Studies:
These farmer-to-farmer studies are designed for integration
into Farmer Field Schools or as a follow-up activity.
 |
Both
Indonesia and Vietnam IPM graduates conduct health
studies as a means to motivate new farmers to join
Farmer Field Schools. |
|
The
Vietnamese studies will be used as a means to measure
the impact of community IPM where it has been
implemented. A follow-up survey with the same sample is
planned in two years. |
|
When
farmers join Farmer Field Schools in Cambodian they do
a self-assessment in the classroom, looking at their
previous season pesticide use, acute effects, spray
practices and household storage and disposal practices
of pesticides. Then as homework, they evaluate one
neighbor. This serves as a rationale to start their
farmer field school training and to sustain
non-chemical crop management practices.
|
Results:
Farmer-to-farmer studies have been completed in Indonesia,
Cambodia and Vietnam. The data highlights are summarized
below:
Indonesian
Farmer to Farmer Study among 60 Shallot Farmers, East Java
1999:
|
Pesticides
were applied 25 times per season to shallots |
|
20
formulations were being used of which 13 were WHO Class
II (moderately hazardous) and 2 were Class Ib (highly
hazardous) |
|
67%
of the farmers were using leaking tanks, thus soaking
their clothing |
|
Serious
signs post spray event: 2% reported they had a seizure |
|
Moderate
signs or symptoms post spray event: tremors (50%), gait
disorders (27%), blurred vision (18%), diarrhea (13%)
vomiting (8%), nausea (35%) |
|
