فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Allium fistulosum (welsh onion) constitute a flagship agricultural product of Cibeureum Village Sukanagalih, Pacet District, Cianjur Regency, West Java, Indonesia. Pest infestation leads farmers to use excessive doses of pesticides, exposing various health risks and environmental effects. These practices should be transformed to encourage farmers to adopt sustainable pesticide use. The study objectives were to determine Allium fistulosum farmers'' knowledge, attitude, behavior, and their correlation regarding pesticide use; and identifies insecticide types, active ingredients, and residues in Allium fistulosum from Cibeureum Village, Indonesia.METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, interviews, questionnaire, and field observation was conducted on 35 Allium fistulosum farmers in Cibeureum Village; and high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to detect Allium fistulosum insecticide residues. Furthermore, the correlation analysis was conducted to examine the correlation among variables through the Fisher’s exact test method.FINDINGS: The study revealed that Allium fistulosum farmers applied excessive doses of insecticide; accordingly, 0.008 milligrams per kilogram emamectin benzoate residues were found. Most farmers had comprehensive knowledge of hazardous substances in pesticides and wearing personal protective equipment. This led to a responsible pesticide-use attitude and behavior, e.g., purchasing pesticides with clear labels from authorized stores, avoiding other activities and wearing masks during application, followed by maintaining personal hygiene and storing pesticides in separate rooms following application. Nevertheless, the correlation between knowledge and attitude is 0.486 (moderate), as well as between attitude and behavior (0.471) is moderate. In practical application, the pesticide dosage used by farmers often does not comply with the recommended levels.CONCLUSION: Farmers with responsible pesticide-use knowledge cannot definitively reflect their attitude and behavior regarding the safe use of pesticides. Experience influenced farmers’ responsible pesticide-use practice by forming inherited agricultural practices and a socially patterned habit. This led to misconceptions that higher dosages of pesticides could increase agricultural productivity. In the actual condition, the accumulation of emamectin benzoate on Allium fistulosum. Therefore, it is essential for improving farmers’ pesticide-use knowledge, attitude, and behavior, followed by policy that could improve farmers welfare.