A research for determination of farmers'awareness level of relationship between pesticide applications and environment in Hatay province

In this study, it was aimed to determine the habits of farmers about pesticide applications in villages of Antakya, Dörtyol, Kırıkhan, Kumlu and Reyhanlı districts of Hatay province and to determine the level of awareness in the relationship between pesticides and environment. The research was carried out in the form of a questionnaire through face-to-face interviews with 116 farmers engaged in plant production on a voluntary basis. It was determined that the highest was determined to be primary school graduates (44.7%). It was determined that 56.9% of the farmers used field sprayer in pesticide applications and 27.6% used orchard sprayer.The average age of sprayers used by farmers was about 5 years. When asked about the degree of reading and understanding the labels on pesticide packages, 47.4% of the farmers reported that they read the labels, 46.6% examined the pictograms, and 12.9% did not understand the labels and pictograms at all. It was determined that 63.8% of the farmers knew the calibration procedures, 62.1% applied the calibration procedures before the pesticide applications, and 36.2% "definitely achieved" the desired result in the calibration. 47.4% of the farmers reported that they filled their sprayer in the farm yard, 43.1% washed it in the farm yard and 53.4% cleaned it after each spraying. According to the 5-point Likert scale, it has been reported that the highest pesticides contaminate the environment during spraying (4.34) and that "farmers should use technological sprayers and equipment" (4.97) in order to reduce pesticide contamination. Keywords: Agriculture, Pesticide, Environment, Farmer, Awareness