Sustainable agricultural practices and occupational hazards with respect to farmer health and safety: A pilot study

Abstract

Despite having a huge segment of the country’s population engaged in agriculture, farmer health and safety is under researched in India. The sector is unorganised and characterised by multitasking workers with low levels of education and technological exposure. Farmers are subjected to physical, mechanical, biological and chemical hazards in the course of everyday work. However, now a gradual awareness of sustainable practices is making inroads into the sector. This study evaluated the health and safety scores of farmers involved in conventional vs. sustainable farming styles and also analysed the impact of adoption of sustainable agricultural practices on the exposure levels to different occupational hazards. The results established that quality of health improved on following sustainable practices. As allopathic treatment is not always within physical or financial reach of farmers, this paper also documents the traditional remedies followed in combating symptoms of various health effects that arise because of farm employment.