Environmental literacy and behaviour of agricultural producers - pilot study

The environmental literacy of agricultural producers is extremely important for sustainable agriculture and environmental protection. In this paper, we examined the knowledge, education and environmental and agricultural literacy of individual farmers as well as their influence on their work in agricultural practice. The study was performed in an agricultural region in Vojvodina, Serbia. We used a self-designed questionnaire. The questionnaire was completed during an interview and personal visits to farmer?s households. All agricultural producers in the examined region had 8 years of formal education and more than half had higher education; more than half also attended additional informal education in the field of agriculture and had very good knowledge of pesticide toxicity and its environmental impact. However, their behavior in managing waste and pesticide-contaminated water is inadequate. After rinsing spray tanks at home, more than half of farmers reported pouring contaminated water from the tank with pesticide residues into the yard or into the sewage system, without being aware of the environmental hazard. In addition, 74% of farmers knew the name of the active ingredient in a pesticide and 76% of them always read the instructions for use. However, more than 37% of respondents believe that using a slightly higher concentration is the only way to control pests. The level of education, as well as the knowledge on environmental threat of pesticides did not significantly affect the behavior of agricultural producers. Although they have a high level of knowledge about the pesticide management, they do not always apply it adequately in everyday practice. Additional environmental education on the implementation of theoretical knowledge in everyday practice is needed.