Vol. 11, Special Issue 8 (2022)

Author(s):
Shalini Chouhan

Abstract:
As per the World Bank, the current rural population of India accounts for 65% and agriculture is the predominant sector in the rural economy. Solan, one of the major vegetable growers, is situated in the South of Northern Hill state of Himachal Pradesh. People residing in rural areas cultivate tomatoes and other vegetables such as peas, capsicum, ginger, etc. In order to get a larger yield from the lesser agrarian land area, farmers use different types of fertilizers and/or manure and pesticides for increasing the yield as well as for the protection of crops. Pesticides are the toxic chemicals used against pests while fertilizers are the agrochemicals used to increase the fertility of soil and productivity. The study was undertaken in rural areas surrounding Solan town to know about common agricultural practices and the use of pesticides and fertilizers by the farmers. We selected 118 rural households at random to generate quantitative and qualitative data on selected parameters and indicators. A questionnaire was designed to gather information. Relevant information was collected from households to evaluate the impact of agrochemical use on the environment, whether chemical farming improved the farmer’s economic status and awareness about health hazards caused by their use. We report here that tomato is the main cash crop in the area of study. During this study, 72.88% of the farmers were reported to be small landholders who used pesticides and chemical fertilizers in order to generate more income. Further, 33.89% of the farmers invested 5-10% of the money on pesticides and manure. Most of the agriculturists (94.9%) used pesticides to protect the crops while 63.56% used varied measures to increase soil fertility. Furthermore, 73.73% of the pesticide users used pesticides more than four times per season and 73% reported inorganic farming to be more profitable in comparison to organic farming. Many of the farmers were not aware about disposing of the bags or containers properly as per the manufacturer’s instructions, thus affecting the environment. It was revealed that 42.53% of agrochemical users did not use any precautions while applying these chemicals. These results can be used to develop a policy for the safe and effective use of agrochemicals in order to address the low yield problem and to suggest ways and means to minimize adverse effects on human health and the environment.