OBJECTIVETo investigate the awareness and use of banned pesticides among vegetable greenhouse farmers in a town of Ledu County, Qinghai Province, China and to provide a basis for the management and control of banned pesticides.

METHODSLocal residents who lived in a town of Ledu County for more than 5 years were selected as subjects in August 2012. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 267 vegetable greenhouse farmers who were selected from five villages of the town by cluster random sampling.

RESULTSOf the 267 subjects, 249 (93.26%) completed and returned the questionnaires. Eighty-seven (34.9%) of the 249 subjects were aware of banned pesticides, and the banned pesticide awareness rate varied significantly among the subjects with different education levels (χ(2) = 11.061, P = 0.011). Only education level entered the regression equation in non-conditional logistic regression analysis. Only five (2.0%) of the 249 subjects knew the banned pesticides as well as the details. All the 249 subjects used banned pesticides to varying degrees in the past 5 years. Only 9.0% (17/189) of the vegetable greenhouse farmers knew the time pesticides were initially banned in China.

CONCLUSIONThe banned pesticide awareness rate is relatively low in the town of Ledu County, and this rate is influenced by education level. It is needed to spread the knowledge and hazards of banned pesticides.