Spray to protect your crops - Part 14: Safety: Take special care during spraying not to harm your animals

Categories: ZambiaPublished On: 10th April 2019

Spray to protect your crops – Part 14: Safety: Take special care during spraying not to harm your animals

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Compiled by J Fuls (Pr Eng)

Our last edition of the spraying series discusses the most important issue on the high-risk practice of crop spraying – safety during the spraying process. You are working with potentially toxic chemicals and it is therefore crucial to follow the correct steps to ensure your safety, the safety of the people who share your space, your animals and your crops. Only the weeds are allowed to be harmed.

We thank the ARC Agricultural Engineering in South Africa, who made this series available to the readers of ProAgri Zambia.

Clean your equipment properly and store it away from children.

Wash your clothes separately from other clothes and wash yourself with soap.

Make your own face mask

If you cannot find a face mask at a reasonable price, you can make your own mask in the following manner:

Cut a two-litre plastic cold drink bottle open near the top and near the bottom. Now cut it open from top to bottom.

Cut the sharp corners away, fold it open and pierce holes into two corners of the plastic.

Cut an elastic band from an old bicycle tube, long enough to fit around your head. Tie the elastic band to the holes in the plastic, fitting it around your head.

With a cloth over your nose, a cap on your head and the face mask, as well as the other clothing, you are now ready for safe spraying.

Safety training courses

It is strongly recommended that trainers, extension officers and farmers consult more in-depth guides and literature for extended background knowledge on safe spraying.