Cotton Growers Perception Level Regarding Pesticides Practices and Toxic Effects of Pesticides on Cotton Plants as Well as the Environment in Sindh

Abstract

Purpose: Pesticides are used to stop or control insects, for instance, weeds, dreadful little creatures, and plant pathogens. The perception among cotton growers of beneficial and harmful effects of pesticides on cotton plant and environment, factors concerning with pesticides applications have a very essential role to get maximum yield. Design/Methodology/Approach: The 300 samples were collected for this study and the reliability of the questionnaire is checked by Cronbach's Alpha test its worth was 0.92 and items were perfectly correlated to one another. The majority of respondents' age was 31-40 years with education level matriculation. Unfortunately, the low literacy rate and education level of the respondents is discouraging. It is also noticed that a large number of respondents had 31- above acres size of land from which 16-20 acres were used for cotton cultivation. The test statistic provided all probability values are highly significant Findings: In conclusion, cotton growers have sufficient knowledge about pesticide practices and excessive usage of pesticides harms the cotton plant as well. It is quite right that pesticides are the major cause of environmental pollution.