study of awareness of pesticide labels among paddy farming in south india and their interpretation of pictograms on pesticide bottles.”

abstract:- introduction: pesticides continue to be used in the farming industry despite to compelling evidence of their ill effects purely because of economic reasons. time and again attempts have been made to help farmers understand these risk. pesticide labels and  pictograms have been enforces as a means to propagate this risk information to the farmers in a simple and effective way. this hypothesis has not been evaluated effectively in india. this study attempts to evaluate the efficacy of these labels and pictograms to help farmers understand the pesticide risks and make rational choices. methods: the study was conducted among 172 farmers cultivating paddy in kancheepuram district of tamil-nadu, india. these farmers were interviewed and asked to interpret the pesticide labels and 15 rick pictograms. their interpretations were tabulated and compared with various demographic variables and the results of the same are presented here. results and discussion: the pesticide labels and the pictograms were ineffective in conveying the intended meaning to the farmers. educational status had a significant influence on how the farmers interpreted these labels and pictograms. these pictograms were found to be ineffective in uneducated farmers for whom they were primarily designed to benefit. conclusion: we need to seriously considering restructuring these labels in a more scientific way. instead of a top to down approach, we need to start working at the grass root level if we have to design labels which are better appreciated. the most important thing to conclude would be to have elaborate plans and strategies to educate the farmers about the labels and pictograms key words: pictograms, pesticide labels, farmer's interpretation, educational status.