Model Development of Strengthening Capacity Building on Harms Prevention from Using Pesticides among Sugarcane Farmers in Nikhom Sang Ton Eng Sub-district, Phimai District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province

Abstract

This action research aimed to study the behavior of pesticide protection, develop and study the results of the development of a model to enhance the capacity to protect from pesticide use among sugarcane farmers in Nikhom Sang Ton Eng Subdistrict, Phimai District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. The research was divided into 3 phases: Phase 1: Contextual study, target group of 122 people; Phase 2: Model development process; and Phase 3: Outcome study, target group of 38 people. The development results were analyzed using Paired t-test statistics.

The results of the research found that 1) Most sugarcane farmers had behaviors to protect themselves from pesticide use at a very appropriate level (90.16%), but 47 people (38.52%) had cholinesterase enzyme levels at a risky and unsafe level, 2) The model to enhance the capacity to protect from pesticide use was called the “NIKHOM model” (N : Network team, I : Integration, K : Knowledge, H : Holistic, O : Organization - wide Goal, M : Model of behavioral promotion to prevent the dangers of using pesticides), and 3) The results of the model development after participating in the activity found that: The target farmers had higher mean scores of knowledge (Mean diff. = 1.29, 95%CI: 0.75-1.83, p <0.001), behavior (Mean diff. = 5.37, 95%CI: 3.56-7.17, p <0.001), and perception (Mean diff. = 5.71, 95%CI: 3.73-7.68, p <0.001) than before participating in the activity. In addition, the farmers' blood cholinesterase enzyme levels were normal, increasing by 92.11 percent, with statistical significance at the 0.05 level. Therefore, the developed model can be applied to other farmer groups to protect themselves from chemical use.