FARMER PRACTICES OF PESTICIDE USE ON MARKET GARDENING IN THE DEPARTEMENT OF MADAOUA-NIGER

The study focused on the analysis of knowledge and practices of market gardeners in relation to the use of pesticides in Niger. It covered three communes of Madaoua Department, Tahoua Region, namely the communes of Galma, Madaoua and Sabon Guida by a survey of 300 producers. These are the intervention communes of the Research Development for Food Security and Climate Change project-RED / SAACC which took charge of the study. Twenty-five (25) pesticide formulations, all of which are not approved by the Sahelian Pesticides Committee (CSP), based on 11 active ingredients, including 2 belonging to Hazard Classes WHO Ia (extremely dangerous) and Ib (very dangerous), are regularly applied on the onion, cabbage and tomato, three of the largest and most pesticide-intensive crops in this area. The most widely used chemical families are organophosphorus (34,61 %), pyrethroid (15,38 %) and avermectin (11,53 %). About 97% of market gardeners surveyed admit that the use of pesticides reduces pest losses. However, the choice of pesticides, application techniques, pre-harvest time, etc. do not meet the standards of good phytosanitary practice. The high rate of illiteracy (more than 67% are illiterate), the lack of information and training on the handling of pesticides (more than 87% untrained) means that producers do not have a good knowledge of the doses and frequency of application, safe handling rules, hygiene rules and often neglect the risks of their own contamination (89% treat without protection) and pollution of the environment