Assessment of adherehence to recommended acaricide use practices among cattle farmers in Pallisa County of Pallisa District

Abstract

Tick-borne illnesses (TBDs) affect 80% of cows worldwide and reduce livestock productivity. Most tick populations are controlled by the use of acaricides however, inappropriate acaricide use practices have led to their failure rendering it very hard for farmers to economically benefit from their animal husbandry practices in Uganda. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Pallisa County across five representative sub counties to assess the farmer’s adherence to the recommended tick control practices. Responses from a total of 116 farmers were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire where the data regarding social demographic characteristics, production and the brands of acaricides was gathered and punched into Microsoft excel and summarized into graphs, tables and pie charts. Using Stata statistical tool, associations between Sociodemographic factors and farmers adherence to manufacturers guidelines were obtained using Pearson’s chi square test at p value < 0.05. Results indicated that hand spraying was the most commonly used method of chemical tick control at 92.5%, ivermectin injection followed with 3.2% and the least used was spray race with 1.6%. Farmers in Pallisa mostly preferred Amidines and coformulated organophosphates both at 33.33% followed by Synthetic Pyrethroids at 22.22% and the least used were Endectocides at 11.11%. The acaricide brands used were Norotraz (26.98%), DuoDipp 55% EC (23.81%), Taktick (15.87%), Sypertix (12.70%), Sangatraz (9.52%), decatix (4.76%), supona extra (2.38%), ivermectin (2.38%) and ivermectin/Tectin (1.59%). Farmers also reported making concoctions of different acaricides in attempt to overcome ticks which could possibly lead to more acaricide failure with some using dilution rates above or lower the recommended coupled with altering the application routines in an attempt to defeat ticks. Majority of the cattle farmers were not complying with manufacturer’s recommendations and there was no significant association between Sociodemographic factors and level of adherence to manufacturer’s recommendations except for marital status. In conclusion, extension initiatives should be guided by the study's insights about farmers' adherence to manufacturer's recommendations. These initiatives must to be created such that they are accessible to all farmers. Because there is still a deficiency, farmer trainings on appropriate acaricide use and rotation should be a focus of action.