Risiko Paparan Pestisida yang Digunakan dalam Pengendalian Hama Lalat Buah terhadap Kesehatan Petani Hortikultura di Kecamatan Kabanjahe Tahun 2023

Abstract

Horticultural plants as one of the agricultural subsectors are plants that use a lot of pesticides. Farmers often use pesticides excessively and do not pay attention to safety and health aspects in using pesticides both during pesticide preparation, spraying, and post-spraying. Exposure to these pesticides can cause chronic or acute poisoning until death occurs. The purpose of this study was to determine the risk of exposure to pesticides used in fruit fly pest control to the health of horticultural farmers in Kabanjahe Subdistrict in 2023. The population of this study were all horticultural farmers in Kabanjahe Sub-district which focused on two villages that were administratively adjacent, namely Ketaren Village and Sumber Mufakat Village with a total of 605 farmers. The sampling technique in this study used purposive sampling. Data were analysed using descriptive method to describe the problem presented with risk matrix table AS/NZ 4360:2004 to see the level of risk of pesticide types and entry pathways of chemical pesticides used in fruit fly pest control to health complaints experienced by farmers. The results showed that the risk of pesticide exposure in controlling fruit fly pests used by farmers in Sumber Mufakat Village and Ketaren Village included medium, high and very high risk. Farmers in Sumber Mufakat Village and Ketaren Village mostly use more than 1 type of chemical pesticide and the frequency of spraying more than 2 times a week. The most widely used pesticides are organophosphate pesticides, the risk experienced by farmers predominantly occurs through skin entry. Many farmers experienced complaints when/after contact with chemical pesticides are skin complaints such as itching. For this reason, it is recommended that farmers be more active in increasing knowledge through counseling activities from related agencies, making spraying schedules and increasing self-awareness in the use of PPE.