Reportage: Raising awareness about pesticides
Practical activities about clean and safe management and use of pesticides were coordinated by the Quang Tri Province Department of Plant Protection (DPP) and the Centre for Social Research and Development with support from the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
Quang Tri is an important agricultural province. In order to improve economic value and productivity across the sector, there are many measures in place to support farmers to adopt intensive farming techniques which improve productivity and increase crop yield.
Our survey shows that farmers use inorganic pesticides in large amounts and with many different varieties, and with more than 4,000 different chemicals. Pesticide abuse is particularly common when farmland quality is low. Climate change also has an impact causing pests and diseases to mutate dramatically in comparison with the past. In addition, many people do not hesitate to use pesticides which are not on the approved list and this causes soil pollution and adverse impacts on water, the environment, and human health. However, people still do not recognize or know of these risks and threats.
