Abstract
The southern part of the Punjab province is blessed with a warm climate favorable for cotton production. Most of the rural families are dependent on cotton for socio-economic survival. Therefore, they utilize huge financial resources on pesticides to get maximum cotton production for sustainable rural livelihoods. However, lack of information about safe usage of pesticides may result not only in wastage of resources but also causes harmful effects. Therefore, the present study has been designed to assess the knowledge level of farmers about safe use of pesticides. From southern part of the Punjab, district Khanewal was selected for in-depth analysis about knowledge and behavior of pesticide users. A sample of 160 respondents was selected randomly and data from them was collected through interviews. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analyzing. Results depict that instructions regarding safe use of pesticides application was ranked 1st due to highest weighted score with value of 581. Based on ranking of health and environmental effects of pesticides, headache (health hazard) and ground water pollution (environmental hazard) were ranked 1st as perceived by farmer respondents. There is a need for training of farming community concerning safe usage of pesticides to avoid its health and the environmental effects.

Shafiq-ur-Rehman Zia, Ijaz Ashraf, Gulfam Hassan2. (2021) PESTICIDE USAGE AND ITS APPLICATION PATTERNS AMONG COTTON GROWERS OF THE SOUTHERN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN, Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Volume 58, Issue 2.
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