Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Pesticide Use Endangers Pailin, Officials Warn

By Kong Soth, VOA Khmer
Original report from Pailin
24 March 2008


Farmers in Pailin are using pesticides to help crop yields without understanding the harm they can cause, officials said.

The pesticides are not being used properly, and may be harmful to individuals and the environment, officials said.

Farmers in the border area said they were unclear about the instructions, which are written in Thai, but rely on vendor instructions to help kill weeds and pests.

"These pesticides to kill the weeds and insects and other species are Thai made," said Ie Saroeun, a vendor at Pa Phi market in Pailin. "We don't know how to use them properly. But they told us we have to mix one or two sardine cans to 20 liters of water."

Officials worry that improper pesticide use can be dangerous.

Yong Saing Koma, director of the Cambodian Center for the Study and Development in Agriculture, said pesticides can poison buffalo and cattle in the fields.

In the rainy season, pesticides can flow into rivers and into the lakes, where it can kill the fish and can poison humans over the long term, he said.

Some vendors said they sell more during the rainy season, though others said they sold pesticide in the dry season as well.

Of Pailin's more than 50,000 residents, about 90 percent are farmers, said Phan Pich, Pailin's director of agriculture.

They grow cassava, sesame, green beans, soy beans, peanuts and red corn, he said.

Some of the farmers don't use many pesticides, because the land is new, Phan Pich said. But at the same time, there some farmers who like to use pesticides to kill the grass and save a lot of time.

"We know this problem in Pailin, and we tried to educate and give training to the people at first," he said. "But the people were not so interested in the health impacts."

Farmer Ty Samaun said he he learned exactly what the impact was on his health.

"I once got poisoning, because I did not protect myself," he said. "It made me exhausted and want to vomit."

Still, farmers say they will continue to use pesticides.

Say Som, a farmer outside of town, said he was looking for a better brand of pesticide, but because he couldn't read the instructions, he has to rely on what the vendors tell him.

"If I kill all the weeds, the corn can grow faster," he said.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is hard to come up with one formula that fit all because there are too many types of plants and veggies.

Thus, each farmer must use trial an error. I would set the goal to knock off 95% of the pests and weeds, but not 100%. I would start with and estimate to rid 60% of pests and weeds, and gradually increase or decrease with each season as required, and that should prevent over use of pesticide.

Anonymous said...

PS: Oh and another thing to anticipate is some pest can slowly build an immune to the pesticide; thus, you may have to switch to different pesticide or readjusting the mixture ... .

Also if the pest is not harming the plant or veggie, don't kill it, just wash it away.

Anonymous said...

pesticide is very dangerous for health and it can leak to drink water and cause birth defects, and other health problems. i strongly discourage people in cambodia from using pesticide, especially in large quantity or industrial-size usage. instead look for other natural way. anything but pesticide. thank you.

Anonymous said...

Yes, sometime you don't have to kill the pest; instead, you can simply uses something naturally to just deterred from damaging the crop, something that they don't like to eat ... . This type of deterrent is reasonably safe. A mixture of vinegar and water might do the job. I mean it's Yurky.

Anonymous said...

Quite candidly, at least in part, I don't feel guilty or exculpated for the people using pest in Cambodia while pest is quite popular in the Western Hemisphere countries.

Good day!