ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY AND BEHAVIOUR OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS-PILOT STUDY
Keywords:
environmental literacy, agricultural producers, pesticide handling, implementation
Abstract
Environmental literacy among agricultural producers is extremely important for sustainable agriculture and environmental protection. In the paper, we examined the knowledge, education and environmental and agricultural literacy in individual farmers as well as their influence on their work in agricultural practice. The study was performed in agricultural region, in Vojvodina, Serbia. We used a self-designed questionnaire. A meeting interview and personal visits to farmer's households were used for filling the questionnaire. All agricultural producers in the examined region had 8 years of formal and more than half have higher education; more than half also attended additional informal education in the field of agriculture, and had very good knowledge in pesticide toxicity and its environmental impact. However, after flushing the spraying tank, more than half of the farmers reported disposing leftover pesticide solution in the yard or in the sewer, not being aware of the environmental threat. The level of education, as well as the knowledge on environmental threat of pesticides did not significantly affect the behavior of agricultural producers. Although they have a high level of knowledge about the pesticide management, they do not always apply it adequately in everyday practice. Additional environmental education on the implementation of theoretical knowledge in everyday practice is needed.
References
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Šarković, A., Cvejić, S., Bogdanov, N. (2016). The environmental awareness of agricultural producers in Serbia: attitudes and practices ТEME, g. XL, 2: 729745 Hanlde: https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_agrospace_4259
Trexler, C. J. (2000). A qualitative study of urban and suburban elementary student understandings of pest-related science and agricultural education benchmarks. Journal of Agricultural Education, 41(3), 89-102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2000.03089
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Yu, L., Liu, W., Yang,S., Kong, R., He,.X. (2022). Impact of environmental literacy on farmers’ agricultural green production behavior: Evidence from rural China. Front. Environ. Sci., 30 November 2022 DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.990981
Aktar, MW., Sengupta, D., Chowdhury, A. (2009).Impact of pesticides use in agriculture: their benefits and hazards. Interdiscip Toxicol. 2009 Mar;2(1):1-12. DOI: 10.2478/v10102-009-0001-7
Asteria, D. (2019). Women’s environmental literacy in managing waste for environmental sustainability of the city. Development 62, 178–185. DOI: 10.1057/s41301-019-00227-y
Bhandari, G. (2014). An overview of agrochemicals and their effects on the environment in Nepal. Appl. Ecol. Environ. Sci, 2: 66–73. DOI: 10.12691/aees-2-2-5
Biswas, A. (2020). A nexus between environmental literacy, environmental attitude and healthy living. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 27, 5922–5931. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-07290-5.
Bogdanov, N. (2007). Small Rural Households in Serbia and Rural Non-farm Economy. Belgrade, UNDP Serbia. ISBN 978-86-7728-046-8
Damalas, CA., Georgiou, EB., Theodorou, G. (2007). Pesticide use and safety practices among Greek tobacco farmers: A survey. Int J Environ Health Res. 2006 Oct; 16(5): 339-48. DOI: 10.1080/09603120600869190
Endalew, M., Gebrehiwot, M., Dessie, A. (2022). Pesticide Use Knowledge, Attitude, Practices and Practices Associated Factors Among Floriculture Workers in Bahirdar City, North West, Ethiopia, 2020. Environmental Health Insights. 2022;16 DOI: 10.1177/11786302221076250
FAO (2020). Smallholders and family farms in Serbia. Country study report 2019. Budapest. DOI: https://DOi.org/10.4060 /ca7449en).
Frick, M. J., Kahler, A. A., Miller, W. W. (1991). A definition and the concepts of agricultural literacy. Journal of Agricultural Education, 32(2), 49-57. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31274/rtd-180813-9133
Gifford, R., Sussman, R. (2012). Environmental attitudes. In S. D. Clayton (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of environmental and conservation psychology (pp. 65–80). Oxford University Press DOI: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199733026.013.0004
Hollweg, K.S., Taylor, J. R.,. Bybee, R. W., Marcinkowski, T. J., McBeth, W. C., Zoido,P. (2011). Developing a Framework for Assessing Environmental Literacy. Washington, DC: North American Association for Environmental Education. DOI: http://www.naaee.net/framework
Hess, A. J., Trexler, C. J. (2011). A Qualitative Study of Agricultural Literacy in Urban Youth: Understanding for Democratic Participation in Renewing the Agri-Food System. Journal of Agricultural Education, 52(2), 151-162. DOI: 10.5032/jae.2011.02151
Jallow, MFA., Awadh, DG.,, Albaho MS., Devi, VY., Thomas, BM. (2017). Pesticide Knowledge and Safety Practices among Farm Workers in Kuwait: Results of a Survey. Int. J. Environ. Res.Public Health, 14: 340. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph14040340
Karapandžin, J.(2018). Ekološka svest poljoprivrednih proizvođača u Vojvodini kao determinanta primene agroekoloških praksi Doktorska disertacija Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, poljoprivredni fakultet
Melanda, VS., Galiciolli, MEA., Lima, LS., Figueiredo, BC., Oliveira, CS.(2022). Impact of Pesticides on Cancer and Congenital Malformation: A Systematic Review. Toxics. 2022 Nov 9;10(11):676. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10110676
Mubushar, M., Aldosari, FO., Baig, MB., Alotaigi, BM., Khan, AQ. (2019). Assessment of farmers on their knowledge regarding pesticide usage and biosafety. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences 26: 1903–1910. DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2019.03.001
Narayanan, M., Kandasamy, S., He, Z., Kumarasamy,S. (2022). Pesticides in the Natural Environment Health Risks, and Remediation, Elsevier, Pages 23-49 ISBN: 978-0-323-90489-6
Novaković, V., Tomić, A., Nikolić, N., Petrović, D. (2018). Zagađenje i zaštita zemljišta i podzemnih voda. Feljton doo. Novi Sad ISBN: 978-86-84863-38-8
Republika Srbija (2020): Portal otvorenih vrata. Retrived on 09.12.2003 from: https://data.gov.rs/en/datasets/rpg-broj-svikh-registrovanikh-poljoprivrednikh-gazdinstava-aktivna-gazdinstva/
Shah, R. (2021).Pesticides and Human Health. Emerging Contaminants Retrieved December 2023. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93806
Sarkar,S., Gil, DB., Keeley, J., Möhring, N., Jansen, K. (2019). The use of pesticides in developing countries and their impact on health and the right to food European parliament, Belgium, ISBN: 978-92-846-7674-3
Sai, MVS., Revati, GD., Ramya, R., Swaroop, AM., Maheswari, E., Kumar, MM. (2019). Knowledge and Perception of Farmers Regarding Pesticide Usage in a Rural Farming Village, Southern India. Indian J Occup Environ Med. Jan-Apr;23(1):32-36 DOI: 10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_121_18
Spielmaker, D. M., Pastor, M., Stewardson, D. M. (2014). A logic model for agricultural literacy programming. Proceedings of the 41st annual meeting of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Snowbird, UT. Retrived from: https://agliteracy.org/research/logic/
Strubenhoff, FW.(2004) Danube Regional Project - Project RER/01/G32 ”Policies for the control of agricultural point and non-point sources of pollution” and “Pilot project on agricultural pollution reduction” (Project Outputs 1.2 and 1.3) GFA Terra Systems GmbH, Hamburg Germany Retrived january 2024 from https://docplayer.net/14329349-Undp-gef-danube-regional-project.html
Šarković, A., Cvejić, S., Bogdanov, N. (2016). The environmental awareness of agricultural producers in Serbia: attitudes and practices ТEME, g. XL, 2: 729745 Hanlde: https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_agrospace_4259
Trexler, C. J. (2000). A qualitative study of urban and suburban elementary student understandings of pest-related science and agricultural education benchmarks. Journal of Agricultural Education, 41(3), 89-102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2000.03089
Usha Shri,G., Tiwari, R. (2021) Environmental Literacy among College Students Indian J Occup Environ Med 25(3):128-132. DOI: 10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_141_20
Yu, L., Liu, W., Yang,S., Kong, R., He,.X. (2022). Impact of environmental literacy on farmers’ agricultural green production behavior: Evidence from rural China. Front. Environ. Sci., 30 November 2022 DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.990981
Published
2025/07/02
Section
Original Scientific Paper