Perception and safety behaviors in pesticide usage among farmers in Brebes regency: Efforts to enhance pesticide safety

Pesticides are harmful substances that are highly regulated by government. Farmers’ understanding of pesticide management should align with their actions, but for various reasons, their behaviors often differ from their perceptions. This research aims to examine how farmers’ views influence their habits in managing pesticides in shallot cultivation in Brebes Regency and recommends solutions for modifying this behavior. Furthermore, the study analyzes farmers’ perspectives on pesticide management and their actual practices. The results show that 80.6% of farmers had positive perceptions . Moreover, their behaviors were good in pesticide storage (PS), pesticide mixing (PM), PPE safety (PPE), post-pesticide application (PPA), packaging destruction (PD), and personal hygiene (PH), with rates of 56.5%, 93.5%, 31.5%, 82.2%, 39.0%, and 81.8%, respectively. By examining the perception and behavior index, it was revealed that farmers had a perception index of 0.73, indicating safe pesticide management, while the safe behavior index was achieved in PS (0.54), PM (0.87), PPA (0.75), and PH (0.82). Conversely, unsafe behavior was noted in PPE (0.34) and PD (0.41). The discrepancy between perception and behavior in PPE and PD highlights the need for government assistance to provide the necessary facilities for proper implementation.