Pesticide use in vegetable crops: Frequency, intensity and determinant factors Jeyanthi H.1, SRF, Kombairaju S.2, Dean 1Department of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 2School of Post Graduate Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore Abstract This paper has examined pest management practices in four important vegetable crops, viz. chillies, cauliflower, brinjal and bhendi using farm level cross-sectional data. Average pesticide usage has been estimated at 5.13, 2.77, 4.64 and 3.71 kg active ingredient per hectare on chillies, cauliflower, brinjal and bhendi crops, respectively. On an average, cauliflower and brinjal are each given 15 applications, chillies is given 13 and bhendi is given 12 applications. The study has suggested that for reducing pesticide-use, farmers need to be educated about different non-chemical control methods and should be encouraged to adopt integrated pest management (IPM) practices. Top |