Instruction level of operators of agricultural sprayers

Resumen

The brazilian agribusiness is the sector that highlight due the contribution significantly with the gross national product of the country. Over the years, the brazilian primary production have been demonstrated a high competitive capacity in several sectors, highlighting the production of agriculture commodities. However, the overuse of pesticides for plant protection is at the same time uneconomical and dangerous once it can cause adverse consequences on human health, on environment and on agriculture. Then, for the knowledge level of agriculture engines operators intended to phytosanitary treatment as well as for the operators involved in this process it is of fundamental importance the search of reduction of environmental and individual risks assuring the quality during pulverization activities. In this sense, the aim of this work is to establish the operators’ level of knowledge regarding the operational safety, as well as the use and management of pesticides. In order to do this, information acquired through a questionnaire applied to 56 operators of agricultural sprayers from two Brazilian regions, West and Central Frontier of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, was used. Analyzing the obtained results, it can be concluded that the level of the operators’ knowledge is considered unsafe, especially with regard to operational safety and the handling of pesticides. The operators’ training is necessary when adopting the appropriate methodology for the calibration of the sprayers, thus, technical training activities should be carried out more frequently.