Misapplication of agrochemicals, farmers’ bane

The Business Sector Advocacy Challenge Fund’s (BUSAC) bold initiative to organise a series of advocacy programmes aimed at reducing to the barest minimum the use of agrochemicals through the enforcement of bye-laws is welcome.

It is a laudable initiative since the misapplication of agrochemicals is a big problem among smallholder farmers in the country as a whole, since most are unlettered and have little or no formal education.

Additionally, the spread of agricultural extension officers across the country is thin since the ratio currently stands at 1:3,000 and thus their inputs are not as far-reaching as expected.

Today, vegetable farmers are losing markets because buyers perceive farmers misapply agrochemicals on their crops, and this is affecting the country’s potential to benefit from the production of fruit and legumes for export -- which the country has a comparative advantage in.

Farmers are said to lose their entire crops due to misapplying chemicals; and this situation is not healthy, since some farmers access credit before embarking on crop-production.

The overuse, misuse and abuse of pesticides is a major concern especially for tomato farmers, of which about 82% are illiterates -- meaning they cannot adhere to safe agronomic practices. It is important to educate farmers through radio discussions on the various F/M stations in rural settings and educate them on the harmful effects of these agrochemicals.

It appears some of these agrochemical retailers are taking advantage of the low level of literacy among farmers, and are deliberately selling inappropriate chemicals with the desire to make astronomical profits.

Additionally, some farmers assign children to spray their crops without much instruction, adding to the misapplication of these dangerous chemicals which are applied without protective gear!