Milk With Soda : A Minor Field Study on the Chemical Companies’ and Distributors’ Role in the Usage of Pesticides in the Rice Cultivation, Tarapoto, Peru

Abstract: There are great problems of pesticide poisonings in the rural parts of the developing countries. Although these countries only use 25 percent of the world’s pesticide production they suffer from 99 percent of the deaths due to pesticide poisoning. The study took place in Tarapoto, Peru, where immense quantities of pesticides are used in their extensive cultivations of rice. The highly toxic pesticides are applied with backpack sprayers without using any safeguard. The objective of the study is to find out if the unsafe use of pesticides in Tarapoto is a result of insufficient information from the chemical companies and the distributors. It is also to study what effect the distributors’ relationship marketing has on the usage of pesticides. The purpose of the study is to help the farmers to get a deeper understanding about the problem by explaining the situation to them. Four theories have been used as analytical tools in the study; corporate social responsibility, relationship marketing, buyer’s value chain and costumer value, and salespeople and their ethical behavior. The guidelines for personal protection and good labeling from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations have also been used as a basis for the empirical study. A triangulation of data was use during the empirical studies and three types of respondents were interviewed; farmers, vendors and organizations and authorities. Participating observations were also made both in the field and in the stores. The results of the empirical studies show that the main reason of the unsafe use of pesticides is not lack of information or unawareness. The etiquettes have to be approved by the Agrarian Health Department and all the interviewed farmers were literate and could therefore read the given information. All the interviewed farmers were also aware of how they really should manage the pesticides. The primary source of information is however the vendors. They have a close relation to the farmers due their selling strategies of relationship marketing. The vendors recommend what pesticides the farmers should use, and how and when to use them. There is though a problem in the information from the vendors. The most recommended products are extremely or highly toxic and they are restricted; they are not allowed to use in rice. They also recommend the farmers to drink milk to avoid intoxication, which the etiquettes warn against. Regular safety instructions were only given by 50 percent of the interviewed vendors.