Safety Behavior of Nepalese Strawberry Farmers as Reflected by the Protection Motivation Theory

• Published in: International Journal of Environmental Research 2025-04, Vol.19 (3), Article 71
• Main Authors: Bhandari, Govinda, B.C., Lalit, Sapkota, Utkal, Fan, Liangxin, Geissen, Violette
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute toxicity; Bans; Chemical pest control; Chlorpyrifos; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Cultivation; Earth and Environmental Science; Effectiveness; Environment; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Environmental Management; Farmers; Fear; Fruit cultivation; Fruits; Fungicides; Geoecology/Natural Processes; Headache; Imidacloprid; Insecticides; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Mancozeb; Motivation; Natural Hazards; Neonicotinoid insecticides; Organophosphates; Parathion; Pesticides; Protective behavior; Random sampling; Research Paper; Safety; Socioeconomics; Statistical sampling; Strawberries
• ISSN: 1735-6865; 2008-2304
• DOI: 10.1007/s41742-024-00726-y

In recent years, the trend of application of chemical pesticides in Nepal is increasing mainly in fruits. Misuse of pesticides can have deleterious effects on human health and the environment. Therefore, the major objective of this study was to assess the determinants of safe handling of pesticides among strawberry farmers from 5 villages comprising 2 wards of the Kakani Rural Municipality. The protection motivation theory (PMT) was utilized as the study’s theoretical model. This study was based on data collected from different methods such as questionnaire survey, key informants’ interviews, focus group discussions and field visits. Data were collected from 100 strawberry farmers via random sampling method. Structured equation modeling (SEM), Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Mann Whitney U test were performed to study relationship between two variables and compare their means. The most commonly used pesticides for strawberry cultivation were imidacloprid, chlorpyrifos and mancozeb. Banned pesticides such as parathion-methyl were found to have been used in the area. Headache was the most common acute symptom reported by farmers. The results of the PMT variables among farmers showed that response efficacy (direct path coefficient, DPC = 0.30) showed a strong positive effect on the protective behavior of farmers. Likewise, fear of farmers (direct path coefficient, DPC = 0.24) had a strong positive effect on their reported acute symptoms. Socio-economic status like residence significantly affected the acute toxicity symptoms of farmers (r = -0.22; p