This study investigated the compliance of marketers of
agrochemicals with the approved and banned cocoa pesticides in selected cocoa
producing states of southwest Nigeria. Primary data was collected through the use
of structured questionnaire administered to randomly selected agrochemical
marketers. All the marketers (100%) were aware of the recently banned cocoa
pesticides, however, majority still have the pesticides in stock. About 70.6% of the
marketers in Osun state and 58.8% in Ogun state stated that they did not receive
information on the banned pesticides from government agencies but through other
channels. More than half of the marketers (52.9% in Ogun, 55% in Kwara and
47.1% in Osun) strongly disagreed that government should place a ban on
pesticides. Availability of banned pesticides in their stock, insufficient information
from the concerned government agricultural agencies, and fear of short supply of
approved pesticides are among the reasons proffered by the marketers for not
supporting the ban of pesticides. Relevant government regulatory agencies should
conduct a comprehensive inventory of pesticides offered for sale by the marketers
of agrochemicals. There should be massive public awareness programme, and wellcoordinated
association for all the marketers of agrochemicals. Agrochemical
manufacturers should translate instructions and warnings on pesticide labels to
local languages understood by the farmers.
U ovom radu je istraživana usaglašenost prodavaca agrohemikalija sa
odobrenim i zabranjenim pesticidima koji se koriste u državama jugozapadne
Nigerije koje prizvode kakao. Primarni podaci su prikupljeni pomoću struktuiranog
upitnika koji je podeljen slučajno odabranim prodavcima agrohemikalija. Svi
prodavci (100%) su bili upoznati sa nedavno zabranjenim pesticidima za kakao, ali
ipak većina njih i dalje ima te pesticide u ponudi. Oko 70,6% prodavaca u državi
Osun i 58,8% u državi Ogun je navelo da nisu dobili nikakvu informaciju u vezi sa
zabranjenim pesticidima od vladinih agencija, već putem drugih kanala. Više od
polovine prodavaca (52,9% u državi Ogun, 55% u državi Kwara i 47,1% u državi
Osun) se oštro usprotivila tome da vlada treba da stavi zabranu na pesticide.
Dostupnost zabranjenih pesticida u skladištima, nedovoljno informacija od
odgovarajućih vladinih agencija za poljoprivredu, kao i strah od nestašice
odobrenih pesticida su među razlozima za nepodržavanje zabrane korišćenja
pesticida koje su naveli prodavci. Relevantne vladine regulacione agencije treba da
sastave svebuhvatan spisak pesticida koje prodaju prodavci agrohemikalijama.
Takođe bi trebalo obezbediti i program o javnoj svesti, kao i dobro koordinisano
udruženje za sve prodavce agrohemikalija. Proizvođači agrohemikalija bi trebalo
da prevedu uputstva i upozorenja na etiketama koje se nalaze na ambalažama
pesticida na lokalne jezike koje poljoprivrednici razumeju.
