Farmers Knowledge on Pesticide Safety Management in Ponorogo

Agricultural activities in PonorogoDistrict are one of the largest contributors to the economy. However, agricultural activities related to pesticide use need attention. Based on the previous research, there were 36.7% of farmers in one of the villages in Ponorogo District were at a very high risk of pesticide contamination. This study aims at analyzing farmers' knowledge of pesticide safety management. This descriptive study involved 57 farmers in village X in Ponorogo. The used instrument was a questionnaire to find out the level of knowledge of farmers. The researchers also conducted semi-structured interviews to know pesticide usage more objectively. The data showed that 95% of farmers had poor knowledge about pesticide safety management; this was reinforced by the analysis result of every question item which describes that the habit on personal equipment and personal hygiene was still poor. There were only 5,26% of the farmers who had a good level of knowledge about pesticide safety management. The Pesticide is handled based on habits instead due to the lack of supervision, technical skills and personal protective equipment. Thus, the effectiveness of the application of pesticide safety management needs assistance from the relevant stakeholders for the building of knowledge, skills, and provision of facilities.