It was afternoon sometime in November when I met with Manang Mirna (this is not her real name) at her farm for a participant observation. It was the first time I applied farm chemicals - I wore long pants, long sleeves, boots, a hat, and a facemask. She was wearing the same clothes, except that she brought poly gloves. At first, she showed me how she mixes the powdered chemical with water with poly gloves on. But later, she admitted that the use of poly gloves was not a regular practice as it is uncomfortable.
She filled the manual knapsack with the mixture, she put it on her back, and started the application. After some negotiation, I was allowed to spray the two plots of strawberries. The knapsack was heavy, and the smell of the farm chemical was strong. But for her, it wasn’t heavy, and the smell did not bother her. She laughed at how I sprayed because I was struggling with the knapsack and because I spent too much time spraying just one plot and used most of the mixture.
After the application, we shared some stories about the farm. When it was about to rain, we hurriedly fixed the plastic tunnels to cover the plants, the smell of farm chemicals was still there. But we have to continue to save the plants from the rain.
Locating the farm
Strawberry farming is one of the major agricultural livelihoods in the municipality of La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines. It was introduced by the Americans in the 1900s as an experimental crop and was later cultivated by local farmers. With its progressive production, La Trinidad was known as the “Strawberry Fields of the Philippines” from the 1990s to the present (La Trinidad Municipality, 2020). With their promising economic value, the production of strawberries also expanded to the different municipalities of Benguet making La Trinidad, Kibungan, Mankayan, Tuba, Tublay, Buguias, and Atok the top seven strawberry producers of the province from 2016 to 2020 (OPAG Benguet, 2022).
Like in many other farming communities, the use of farm chemicals in strawberry production is widely prevalent. Farm chemicals are valuable in producing ‘first class’ (Sidchogan-Batani, et. al, 2013) products that consumers buy. First class refers to products that have full form, color, and best taste as also identified by the farmers and the strawberry processors in the area. This is a result of the market dynamics in this agricultural setting, where middlemen dictate the price of the products, strong competition with other suppliers coming outside of La Trinidad, coupled with expensive agricultural inputs, and of course pests and diseases problems (Mangili, 2014). The most common farm chemicals used by the strawberry farmers include insecticides, fungicides, miticides, and flower inducers depending on the season.
Understanding farm chemicals
Pesticide labels are generally the main mechanism for communicating risk and other information to end-users (Rother, 2018). Each label represents a level of toxicity that the farmers must be aware of. The categories in the Philippines are from I to IV, with I indicating extremely toxic chemicals and IV indicating slightly toxic chemicals:
- Category I is Danger: Poisonous with a color band of Red (extremely toxic);
- Category II is Warning: Harmful with a color band of Yellow (highly toxic);
- Category III is Caution with a color band of Blue (moderately toxic);
- Category IV with a color band of Green (slightly toxic)
Source: Pesticides Regulation Division, 2020.
With this, most of the farm chemicals used by strawberry farmers have signal words such as the words ‘Danger’, ‘Warning’, and ‘Caution’ and the color band symbols.
Most of the strawberry farmers interviewed for this study first claimed that they use farm chemicals with a color band of green, which they commonly refer to as “Green labeled” products. When asked why, they explained that it is what is required by the management and as well as considerations of plant and human health, including that of the consumers and the farmers themselves. However, results from interviews and focus group discussions revealed otherwise. Farmers have been using stronger types of pesticides with a color band symbol of blue and yellow, unknowingly or knowingly. This is because of the need to produce the first class strawberries. As described by one the farmers “Isunga din dosage di usaren da sin mamingsan…katapi da et. Imbis nga esa, kaitapi da et si duwa.” (That is why the dosage for one application…they add. Instead of one, they add two.)
The body in understanding toxicity
Farmers are aware of the toxicity of farm chemicals. Most of their knowledge is from their own experiences followed by the experiences of their co-farmers in the field. Other information comes from ‘technicians’ or product promoters who visit them on their farms to discuss the benefits and the dos and don’ts of their products. The experiences of their co-farmers are an important basis for their health practice. In one narration, the research participant shared the experience of his co-farmer saying:
Way udom ay ammok, kaikiwar sin takkay na, aga di nanbu-an na. Sin 2000 en ay nailak ay binmala di sakit na ay complicated ay naala na sin chemical. Tan kaman na di ngarud, uray nu inbabado na ay kaman nina, ngem nan-spray met baw, us-usaren na baw metlang nu man-ubla si sabali, nu sumaa sya ladta di.”
(I know someone who used his hands to stir the chemicals. In 2000, I saw his sickness became complicated because of the chemicals. It is like that, even if he wears this (long sleeve), he sprays, he still wears it while doing other work, until he goes home).
When the farmers judge the toxicity of products based on the immediate effects of the chemicals on their own body, they rely particularly on their nose and eyes. When they feel harm or discomfort in the nose and eyes they know that the product is toxic. The burning sensation in the eyes and the strong smell of the farm chemicals inhaled upon opening or during mixture are some of their indicators that the products they are using are toxic. When such events happen, some will pause and rinse their eyes or nose, but then continue applying the chemicals when the feeling of discomfort subsides. This is because they believe that it is what the plant needs. However, others would discontinue using it and look for other brands that have the same effect but do not cause them immediate and obvious harm. Figure 2 illustrates a body map of a strawberry farmer indicating the most painful parts of the body when doing different farming tasks, with emphasis on the nose and eyes (colored black) because of exposure to toxic chemicals.
The body map also illustrates other sickness or pain that the farmers feel while performing other farming activities. The head, shoulders, lower back, and knees indicate severe pain, while the hands and feet show a mild pain received from working or caused by the PPEs they use, while the whole body is colored light red to show fatigue from doing all the farm work. As a result, the farmers make an effort to prevent exposure to toxicities. Strong farm chemicals like insecticides are used with caution, since they sting or bring discomfort in the eyes, nose, and in rare cases the skin, of the farmers.
With the knowledge that farm chemicals can be toxic to health, farmers adopted strategies to ensure their safety from farm chemicals, especially from insecticides, miticides, and weedicides or those that immediately irritate their eyes and nose. They use “personal protective equipment” (PPEs) which normally includes masks, gloves and boots. During the application of concentrated or higher doses of pesticides, they do not expose their hair and skin while spraying, so the use of long sleeves, long pants, and caps/hats is necessary. But eye cover or eye protection is often absent.
(hat, facemask, long sleeves, long pants, boots, and gloves).
During ordinary days, the farmers are not commonly seen using the PPEs they identified, especially gloves, which they explained irritate the hands and are difficult to work with. In addition, the confidence in not using the PPEs stems from the idea of green labeled farm chemicals as being ‘less toxic’. Even some of the farmers who have a degree in agriculture were confident in the safe use of ‘green labeled’ farm chemicals without PPE.
According to studies, pesticides enter the body mainly through the skin (Pangili et al, 1995). Fungicides have acute toxicity that can result in skin and eye irritation. Studies show fungicide poisoning and death caused by this chemical are also present (Nendick et al, 2022). In interviews with chemical technicians who visited the farmers to promote their products, they said that even with fungicides and green-labeled products farmers must strictly use their PPEs, even if they do not feel immediate negative effects on their health, since this would accumulate and may cause them harm in the long run.
used by farmers, and possible exposure to chemicals in absence of PPEs.
Figure 4 illustrates the possible areas or ways the strawberry farmers are still exposed to farm chemicals even when using their PPE. Exposure may be through the uncovered parts of the body, including but not limited to the eyes, ears, neck, and hands.
Farmers in the Swamp Strawberry Field see farm chemicals as an important component of their production. The farmers are knowledgeable that farm chemicals are dangerous mainly through their experiences, and one of the most significant is through sensing, with nose and eyes as major tools for knowing toxicity. However, even with this knowledge and experience, it is still understood that there is some level of exposure to toxic chemicals because of their sometimes incomplete or lenient use of PPE. Farmers must be better informed of these possibilities for toxic exposures by agencies and institutions related to strawberry farming and responsible for the production of these chemicals, enabling them to better protect themselves and their families.
↬ Elvie Nang-is
#embodied_ecologies #Philippines #La_Trinidad #farming #Pollution #Toxicity
References:
- Mangili, T.K., Oloan, R., and Lorezco, TM. (2014). ANAP Research and Development Journal (Vo. 11)., Trichoderma-Based Management of Soil-Borne Pathogens of Selected Crops in the Highland (p.1-31)., Benguet State University, La Trinidad.
- Municipality of La Trinidad (2020). La Trinidad History.
- Nendick, E., Mohamed, F., et al (2022) Acute fungicide self-poisoning - a prospective case series, Clinical Toxicology, 60:10, 1106-1112, DOI:10.1080/15563650.2022.2105710.
- Office of the Provincial Agriculture (2022). Strawberry production (Metric tons) in the Municipality of Benguet, 2016-2020.
- Pesticides Regulation Division (2020). Policies and Guideline (3rd ed). Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, Department of Agriculture. FPA Building, Bureau of Animal Industry Compound, Visayas Avenue, Diliman Quezon City.
- Rother, H. A.(2018). Pesticide labels: Protecting liability or health?–Unpacking “misuse” of pesticides. Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health, 4, 10-15.
- Sidchogan-Batani, R., et al (2013). Pansig’dan: Promoting Well-being in an Agricultural Community in Northern Luzon, Philippines: Understanding Suicide in the Context of Cash Crop Farming., Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Philippines.