FARMERS' LITERACY LEVEL AND PRACTICES IN PESTICIDE'S USE: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY ON HAZARDS IN FARMING

Muhammad Rashid Hafeez Assistant Professor, Department of English, GC Women University Sialkot, Pakistan m.rashid@gcwus.edu.pk
Muhammad Shahbaz Assistant Professor, Department of English, GC Women University Sialkot, Pakistan m.shahbaz@gcwus.edu.pk
Ali Ahmad Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, aliahmad@ciitvehari.edu.pk
Raja Muhammad Ishtiaq Khan Lecturer in English, Department of Common First Year, Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia r.khan@mu.edu.sa
Imran Khan Lecturer in English, Department of Education, Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia imkk2010@gmail.com

Abstract

Farmers’ literacy is significant in diverse features like selection of human and environment friendly pesticides to enhance healthy production of crops and to avoid tangible and intangible potential hazards emerging from mishandling of pesticides and leading towards diverse forms of aquatic, atmospheric and anthropogenic pollutions. We conducted an ethnographic qualitative research on a population sample of 54 working farmers in a multilingual Pakistani context with the premise to check their literacy level in selection and use of pesticides. We found a significant positive role of language used in pesticides users’ manuals lacking better communication skills due to either adopting intricate English language specific registers usage or selection of the obsolete words of Urdu language difficult to comprehend compelling farmers to use folk wisdom and heresies contributing to hazards and pollution. Complex language of user manuals is hazardous, and lack of awareness holds diverse threats for the users as well as for the consumers of the products. Onsite education and literacy both of the retailers and farmers will be helpful in better cultivation of healthy crops along with alleviating the potentially fatal hazards emerging from misuse of pesticides. Revision of user manuals and rewriting in modern English and local languages is suggested. <Р’В 

Keywords:

Pesticides, Farmers’ literacy, farm hazards


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