Assement on the use of crop pesticides and acaricides in the control of ticks in cattle: A case study of Soroti District, Uganda.

Abstract

Ticks and tick-borne diseases are a major constraint in cattle production and productivity, due to high tick prevalence, partly triggered by tick acaricide resistance and ignorance of cattle farmers on the use of rightful veterinary acaricides in the control of ticks in cattle. In the previous study in central Uganda, farmers reported using agrochemicals against ticks in cattle. Therefore, my study, using a cross sectional study, assessed the use of crop pesticides and acaricides in the control of cattle ticks by farmers in Soroti district, their knowledge and practices, and laboratory determination of efficacy of most commonly used crop pesticide and acaricide against R.As ticks, egg-inhibition and larvae. A total of 386 cattle farmers were interviewed using online structured questionnaire, focus group discussions and KIIs. Multistage random sampling technique was used to select respondents. Qualitative data were coded to identify recurring themes such as knowledge, practices and awareness about tick control using crop pesticides and veterinary acaricides. The impact of ticks and tick-borne diseases such as: Death of cattle, reduced calving rate and treatment costs, and subsequently, the perceived unavailability of efficacious veterinary acaricides in the rural settings compare to perceived readily available crop pesticides drove farmers towards use of crop pesticides against ticks. The most commonly used crop pesticide and acaricide in the control of ticks were profenofos 40% and Cypermethrine 4% (trade name rocket) by 75.06%, and Norotraz an amitraz 12.5% w\v having 64.42% of the cattle farmers reporting usage. Subsequently, 15.84% of the farmers used other methods like Ash, omo (detergent), piercing and hand picking of ticks for control. The most used equipment for crop pesticide and acaricide application were: Knap sac sprayer by 60% reported using, and the frequency of application of chemicals by cattle farmers against ticks was: weekly by (51.8 %), Bi-weekly (31.1%) and monthly (17.1%). Acaricide failures in tick control by farmers were due to: Wrong dilution dosages used, expired acaricides used, wrong intervals of spraying, missing on tick predilection sites and use of wrong equipment of applications. Farmers reported mixing different crop pesticides and acaricides to improve their efficacy against cattle ticks for instance, a concoction of (Cypermethrin crop pesticide with amitraz veterinary acaricide) known commonly as Duducyper and Norotraz. The most commonly used crop pesticide had higher mortality by (85%) and egg-layin