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2. Ranch operators' perceptions of leafy spurge
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Leistritz, F.L. (author), Sell, R.S. (author), Bangsund, D.A. (author), and Nudell, D. (author)
- Format:
- Research paper
- Publication Date:
- 1998-07
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 107 Document Number: C10127
- Notes:
- search from AgEcon., Agricultural Economics Report 400-S. July 1998, 8 pages; Adobe Acrobat PDF 121K bytes, A survey of 459 ranchers was conducted to evaluate managerial, institutional, and social factors that may affect the rate and extent of implementation of various leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) controls in a five-county region in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Ranchers returned 187 questionnaires. Weeds were considered a greater problem for ranchers with leafy spurge than for those without leafy spurge; however, even among ranchers with leafy spurge, there was strong agreement that other ranching issues were of greater concern. Over 65 percent of the respondents indicated that weeds on their ranch were a `minor problem.' Leafy spurge was ranked as the most important weed. Nearly 60 percent of ranchers felt that using herbicides, biological agents, and grazing animals on leafy spurge were economical; however, only 25 percent of ranchers with leafy spurge felt those controls were `very effective.' A majority of ranchers with leafy spurge indicated plans to treat their infestations with herbicides and biological agents in the future. Reasons for not using various leafy spurge controls fell into environmental, educational, and financial categories. Ranchers depend heavily on their county extension agents and local weed control officers for information on weed control. Information on the effectiveness and economics of various controls was most requested by ranchers. The responses of ranchers to various statements on weed and range management indicated that ranchers, as a group, are generally very concerned about weeds in rangeland. Respondents generally felt it makes economic sense to control weeds in rangeland, and felt very strongly that not enough was being done to control weeds on public land. Ranchers realize the difficulty in controlling leafy spurge, but indicated they are still planning on fighting the weed in the future. Financial and educational constraints to adopting and using leafy spurge controls could be abated through university and governmental educational programs and through cost-share or other financial assistance. Keywords: leafy spurge, control, rancher opinion.
3. Use of communication media in changing rice farmers' pest management in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Heong, K.L. (author), Escalada, M.M. (author), Huan, N.H. (author), and Mai, V. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 1998-07
- Published:
- Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 137 Document Number: D11465
- Journal Title:
- Crop Protection
- Journal Title Details:
- 17(5): 413-425
- Notes:
- 13 pages., via online journal., Many rice farmers decide to spray insecticides based on their perception of potential damage and losses caused by pest species. Farmers generally overestimate the seriousness of the rice leaf folder from visible damage and apply insecticides early, and therefore, changing perceptions may help reduce the perceived benefits of unnecessary spraying. Farmers in Long An province, Vietnam, were motivated to ‘test’ a heuristic or rule of thumb, ‘insecticide spraying for leaf folder control in the first 40 days after sowing is not needed’, by the distribution of carefully designed communication media materials. The media reached 97% of the farmers in the study sites. Leaflets, radio drama and posters had the most effective reach. Thirty-one months after the media introduction, the number of insecticide sprays dropped significantly from 3.35 sprays per farmer per season to 1.56. The proportion of farmers spraying at early and late tillering and booting stages was reduced from 59%, 84% and 85% to 0.2%, 19% and 30%, respectively. Those who did not use any insecticides increased from 1% to 32%. Correspondingly, farmers' perceptions of leaf folder damage as indicated in a belief index, decreased significantly from 11.25 to 7.62. The proportion of farmers who believed that leaf folders could cause losses was reduced from 70% to 25%, as did those who believed that early season spraying was required, from 77% to 23%, respectively. Farmers' insecticide spray frequencies and the belief index were significantly correlated and were not significantly different between farmers who had attended farmer field school training and those who had not. The cost (insecticide and labour) saving was the most important incentive for farmers to stop early season spraying as cited by 89% of the farmers. A survey of 12 other districts in Long An showed that 82% of the province's 210000 households were reached. About 20% had not applied any insecticides, 77% had stopped early season spraying and the average number of insecticide sprays was 1.6 (compared with 1.55 in study sites). The approach was readily adopted by extension in 15 provinces that launched their own programmes, extending to the whole Mekong Delta of 2 million farmer households.