Abstract:
Rice is the staple food of Sri Lankans and total annual land extent under the rice cultivation is around 708,000 hectares. However, still our production is inadequate to feed the growing population. According to the pesticide registration act of Sri Lanka, it is mandatory to use a label which has prepared according to the guidelines of the Registrar of Pesticide. To achieve the purpose of using any pesticide, it is vital to follow the guidelines given in the labels. The study was carried out to investigate the existing gap in the farmer's perception towards label information or product recommendation, to explore the degree of label information usage by the farmers and to see the deviation of farmer practice from the label information. This study was conducted in Pothuhara in Kurunegala district during mid of 2010. There are two main types of label information as; (1) Recommendation on application and (2) Safety precautions. This study was focused only on recommendations on applications of the product.
Two questionnaires were prepared considering Nominee (bispyribac sodium, 100SC) supplied by the Lankem Ceylon Ltd. The surveys were carried out in two rounds interviewing same group of farmers effectively in dealer point and in the field.
Study has indicated that the majority of respondent farmers (57.3%) do not read the product recommendations. Hypothesis of the study was to see whether there is relationship between farmers' satisfaction over the degree of weed control against usage of label information. According to the Chi square analysis, it is indicator that there is a relationship between above factors. Further, Binary Logistic Regression shows that the label items affecting for herbicide efficacy are dosage, number of tanks for cultivation, amount of products per tank and specified agronomic practices.
Finally this survey proved, majority of farmers do not follow Product Recommendations.
