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Abstract

ABSTRACT:The Mauritian agriculture is now shifting from sugarcane production to the growing of vegetables and fruits in a means to reduce net importing figures of fruits and vegetables. In an effort to adapt to challenges facing the agricultural sector, governmental and non-governmental organizations have consistently promoted pesticides as a yield augmenting and sole pests and disease combating means. Moreover, the extensive use of chemical pesticides in agriculture has also led to an increase in pest' resistance, serious environmental contamination and toxic residue accumulation. Many unsustainable agricultural practices have led to soil degradation mainly through loss of organic matter leading to a decrease in soil fertility. A study was conducted, where 300 farmers coming from the nine different districts in Mauritius were interviewed on the use of pesticides.A fully structured questionnaire was used to assess the environmental, socio-economic and agricultural impact of using pesticides. The main objective was to determine the main factors motivating farmers to use pesticides. The answers received from farmers originating from 5 main regions in Mauritius were analyzed. The regions were: (a) North, (b) East, (c) South, (d) West and (e) Centre. The findings demonstrated that more than 90 % of vegetable growers used pyrethroids group of pesticides. A factor analysis was conducted and the results of the statistical analysis showed that influence by fellow farmers was the main factor influencing farmers to use pesticides, followed by pricing and efficacy of pesticides, experience in farming, effectiveness of results, availability of pesticides and quickness of results.