Table 2.
Agricultural works and farming descriptions of the farmers in the two study populations 1998 and 2006
| 1998 (n = 61 couples) | 2006 (n = 250 male farmers) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Husbands | Wives | |||||
| Characteristics | No. | (%) | No. | (%) | No. | (%) |
| Years working in agriculture | ||||||
| 0-14 | 14 | (23.0) | 32 | (53.0) | 40 | (16.0) |
| 15-29 | 19 | (31.0) | 20 | (33.0) | 96 | (38.4) |
| >29 | 28 | (46.0) | 9 | (15.0) | 114 | (45.6) |
| Mean (SD) | 26 | (13.0) | 16 | (11.3) | 29 | (14.0) |
| Farming tasks | ||||||
| Farming/cultivating | 58 | (95.1) | 33 | (54.0) | 250 | (100.0) |
| Pruning | 60 | (98.0) | 16 | (26.0) | 247 | (98.8) |
| Applying pesticides | 61 | (100.0) | 51 | (84.0) | 247 | (98.8) |
| Harvesting | 61 | (100.0) | 56 | (92.0) | 250 | (100.0) |
| Irrigating | 35 | (57.4) | 25 | (41.0) | 247 | (98.8) |
| Types of crops grown in the farm | ||||||
| Grapes | 60 | (98.0) | 250 | (100.0) | ||
| Plums | 57 | (94.0) | 209 | (84.0) | ||
| Apples | 19 | (21.0) | 47 | (19.0) | ||
| Vegetables | 27 | (44.0) | 198 | (79.0) | ||
| Others | 18 | (31.0) | 119 | (48.0) | ||
| Years using pesticides | ||||||
| 1-10 | 11 | (18.0) | 53 | (21.2) | ||
| 11-20 | 19 | (31.0) | 110 | (44.0) | ||
| >20 | 31 | (51.0) | 87 | (35.0) | ||
| Mean (SD) | 24 | (12.0) | 21 | (11.0) | ||
| Total pesticide units applied annually | ||||||
| ≤ 40 units | 26 | (42.6) | 239 | (95.6) | ||
| >40 units | 35 | (57.4) | 11 | (4.4) | ||
| Mean (SD) | 20.7 | (20.8) | 14.2 | (20.1) | ||
| Number of annual pesticide applications | ||||||
| ≤ 8 times | 51 | (83.6) | 214 | (85.6) | ||
| >8 times | 10 | (16.4) | 36 | (14.4) | ||
| Total hours in applying pesticides/year a | ||||||
| 1-40 hours | 20 | (33.0) | 99 | (39.6) | ||
| 41-80 hours | 25 | (41.0) | 66 | (26.4) | ||
| >80 hours | 16 | (26.0) | 85 | (34.0) | ||
| Mean (SD) | 66 | (39.0) | 89 | (103.0) | ||
| Application equipment | ||||||
| Backpack sprayer | 3 | (5.0) | 5 | (2.0) | ||
| Open tractor | 58 | (95.0) | 245 | (98.0) | ||
aThe average working hours in applying pesticides was 8-72 hours/year for 93.5% of 1998 farmers' wives.