Fruit Production and Distribution: Risks of Beautification and ... - RCSD

Chingchai Methaphat 20short. For instance, cyper is short for cypermethrin, 9 and metha is formethamidophos. 10 Many called the chemicals by trade names; however, some cannotrecall names of chemicals used. For instance, Uncle So, a 54-year-old man, respondedto my question of chemical name as follows: “So many drugs I used that I could notremember their names.” In fact, farmers use the same kinds of chemicals but, becausedifferent companies manufacture them, they have different names. Usually, when Iasked my informants, instead of telling the chemical names, they went and picked thebottles and showed me and read the name.In fact, farmers use not only one insecticide at a time but also at least twoinsecticides and plant nutrients or hormones. For example, Cham, 45 years old, toldme about spraying drugs in his orchards. He told me that in this period it is importantto have complete and mature leaves. The simple logic is that the leaves as mothersmust be healthy and abundant in order to ensure that they can produce and accumulatefood enough for their fruits and the trees themselves. On September 30, 2007 Iobserved that he together with his wife spraying insecticides for durian in his orchard.He mixed two pesticides together in a 1,000-liter metal container loaded in rot-e-taek,mechanized cart. He mixed 1,000 cc of dicrotophos 11 with 300 cc of ostrine-35 andfoil, additive substance into 1,000 liters of container. He said, “Dicrotophos is forphlia, psyllids; ostrine is ya nôn, worm drug (worm killer).” Why did he mix twopesticides together instead of using only a single one? He told me that each drug haddifferent killing power; mixed drugs would cover more pests and kill better. However,he used less volume of chemicals than that was indicated in the label. In the labelostrine should be used 400 cc per 1000 liters, but since he mixed it with dicrotophos,he used only 300 cc of ostrine. If he sprayed each pesticide separately, he woulddissolve it according to the direction. Mixing them in the same spray would save notonly some money but also his time of exposing to the toxic chemicals. He said hecould spray the same insecticides no more than three consecutive times at the sameorchard; otherwise, it was not effective. “The pests will be resistant to the chemicals if9 Cypermethrin is a pyrethroid class of insecticide (http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC35735 last accessed November 10, 2008).10 Methamidophos is a highly toxic organophosphate insecticide.11 Dicrotophos is an organophorus-classed insecticide which has high and acute toxicity. It is classified into the 1bcategory (highly hazardous) of the WHO’s toxic classification (http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC35045 last accessed November 14, 2008).