Why are pesticides so dangerous for farmers?

What are pesticides?
Pesticides are substances used to kill insects. They are chemicals used in agriculture, medical, industry, or household products.
Nearly all pesticides can change the ecosystem. Many pesticides are directly harmful to humans and others accumulate in the foods. (1)
It is undeniable that pesticides have increased the productivity of agriculture many times over the past decades.

Why do farmers use pesticides?
“Experts say that without this tool, more than a half of global food production would be lost because of  pests, diseases and weeds, bringing a big damage to the economy and negative impacts on human life as well as farmers’ income.” According to the newspaper nhandan.vn

Pesticides are talked about as a method to increase productivity, agricultural production and plant protection.

According to the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Vietnam is located in a tropical climate with hot, humid and rainy characteristics. This creates favorable conditions for agriculture development, but at the same time, it is also an ideal condition for harmful organisms to proliferate. Along with that, the problem of intensive farming to increase productivity and climate change also cause many harmful organisms to arise and destroy on a large scale. In the above cases, if pesticides are not used to prevent and control diseases, the agricultural industry will suffer vast destruction.

Why are pesticides so dangerous for farmers?

When farmers use pesticides to atomize their fields, they run the risk of breathing the chemicals. (2)

Pesticides also have the ability to endosmosis the agricultural product or food in the farmer’s spray area.

Should farmers be concerned about pesticides?

Sure!

Pesticides are very toxic. It can be fatal if inhaled, or exposed to them. Acute symptoms that may occur within 48 hours:

• Respiratory irritation, cough or sore throat
• Allergy
• Irritation of skin, eyes
• Vomiting, diarrhea
• Headache, loss of consciousness
• Convulsions or death

In addition, pesticides can also have long-term effects (chronic disease), often with repeated or continuous exposure over a long period of time. Over time, they leave many very serious diseases.

Chronic exposure to pesticides can lead to asthma, Parkinson, depression and anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and cancer. (3)

At Đạt Foods, we want to see a better and more sustainable life, so accompanying farmers in converting the farming model to natural farming, without using chemicals is one of the team’s development priorities.