Table 1.
Demographic data and pesticide usage among rice, corn, and double-crop farmers
| Rice farmers (n=21) | Corn farmers (n=33) | Double-crop farmers (n=49) | P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a Presented in frequency and percentage; b Presented in Mean±SD. and Median (P25th-P75th); *P<0.05; **P<0.01 | |||||
| Gender a | Male | 20 (95.2) | 29 (87.9) | 44 (89.8) | 0.629 |
| Female | 1 (4.8) | 4 (12.1) | 5 (10.2) | ||
| Education a | No education | 0 (0) | 2 (6.1) | 0 (0) | 0.175 |
| Primary education (Grade 1-6) | 17 (81) | 26 (78.8) | 37 (75.5) | ||
| Secondary education (Grade 7-12) | 4 (19) | 5 (15.2) | 11 (22.4) | ||
| Bachelor degree | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | ||
| Smoking a cigarette a | 3 (14.3) | 15 (45.5) | 12 (24.5) | 0.128 | |
| Alcohol consumption a | 14 (66.7) | 22 (66.7) | 39 (79.6) | 0.585 | |
| Farm tasks a | Spraying pesticides | 21 (100) | 33 (100) | 49 (100) | No statistics |
| Mixing pesticides | 15 (71.4) | 24 (72.7) | 29 (59.2) | 0.375 | |
| Harvesting crops | 11 (52.4) | 15 (45.5) | 25 (51) | 0.847 | |
| Scattering seed | 10 (47.6) | 15 (45.5) | 22 (44.9) | 0.978 | |
| Packing product | 3 (14.3) | 5 (15.2) | 7 (14.3) | 0.993 | |
| Watering | 4 (19) | 3 (9.1) | 6 (12.2) | 0.574 | |
| Information of pesticide usage a | Neighbors | 10 (47.6) | 20 (60.6) | 33 (67.3) | 0.299 |
| Retailers | 9 (42.9) | 13 (39.4) | 18 (36.7) | 0.888 | |
| Government officers | 8 (38.1) | 8 (24.2) | 9 (18.4) | 0.211 | |
| Reason of pesticide usage a | Protect the problem in advance | 14 (66.7) | 19 (57.6) | 39 (79.6) | 0.097 |
| Face a pest problem and plant diseases | 12 (57.1) | 17 (51.5) | 27 (55.1) | 0.912 | |
| Save time, labor and cost | 12 (57.1) | 16 (48.5) | 20 (40.8) | 0.440 | |
| Need good appearance products | 8 (38.1) | 12 (36.4) | 23 (46.9) | 0.591 | |
| Disposal methods of used pesticide containers a | Burying | 16 (76.2) | 11 (33.3) | 18 (36.7) | 0.003* |
| Selling | 4 (19) | 11 (33.3) | 19 (38.8) | 0.274 | |
| Throw in garbage | 2 (9.5) | 8 (24.2) | 10 (20.4) | 0.399 | |
| Burning | 0 (0) | 6 (18.2) | 4 (8.2) | 0.078 | |
| Reuse for other purposes | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (4.1) | 0.325 | |
| Age, years old b | Mean±SD. | 55±8 | 52±8 | 52±7 | 0.271 |
| Median (P25th-P75th) | 56 (51-61) | 53 (48-58) | 52 (46-58) | ||
| Agricultural experience, years b | Mean±SD. | 31±11 | 31±10 | 28±11 | 0.473 |
| Median (P25th-P75th) | 31 (24-41) | 32 (23-39) | 28 (21-39) | ||
| Area of cultivation, Acres b | Mean±SD. | 3.1±1.5 | 3.6±2.6 | 8.1±9.4 | <0.001** |
| Median (P25th-P75th) | 3.2 (2-4.4) | 2.4 (1.6-4.4) | 5.5 (3.6-8.7) | ||
| Pesticide expense per cultivation area, Bahts/acre/year b | Mean±SD. | 261±306 | 462±397 | 235±271 | 0.005** |
| Median (P25th-P75th) | 125 (53-360) | 281 (198-777) | 162.5 (65-313) | ||