Farmer Perceptions, Knowledge, and Pesticide Use Practices

Abstract

Rice production accounted for about half of the total insecticides, over 80 percent of herbicides, and 4 percent of fungicides sold in the Philippines in 1987 (APIP, 1991). Molluscicides have also been used in small quantities since 1987 to control the golden snail (Warburton and Pingali, 1993). Fifty-five percent of the pesticides sold in the country are insecticides, followed by herbicides (19 percent) and fungicides (15 percent) (Rola and Pingali, 1992). However, the total quantities of pesticides used in the Philippines are small compared with heavy users such as South Korea and Japan. Rice agrochemicals in the country accounted for only 2 percent of the world market value in 1988 (Woodburn, 1990).