The study was conducted to determine the effect of health education program through the use of lecture and poster on the knowledge and practices among farmers in safe handling of pesticides in Barangay Upper Salug Daku, Mahayag, Zamboanga del Sur. A pre and post interventional research design was utilized in the study. A total of 70 farmers were enrolled, ages 15-65. The tools used to gather the data were an interviewer-assisted questionnaire for the knowledge and an observational checklist for the actual practices. Data processing and analysis were done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Program. Paired T-Test was used for comparison of the total mean knowledge scores between pretest, post-test 1 and post- test 2. McNemar’s test was used to compare the actual practices before and after the intervention. The knowledge mean score significantly improved from pre-test which is 23.16, to 25.63 for post-test 1 and 25.99 for post-test 2. The respondents had good practices in nine out of the 14 actual practices before the intervention. Post-intervention, significant improvement in 3 items was noted: usage of mask during pesticide application, avoidance of storing the pesticide bottle or sprayer under a tree and disposal of the empty bottles in garbage containers. After the intervention, there was a significant decrease in the number of farmers practicing hand washing. The study concludes that lecture and poster were effective in enhancing the knowledge. The actual practices were good from the start of the study. The researcher recommends regular health education and re-evaluation of the actual practices in pesticide handling. In addition, the basic principles of hand washing and its importance in prevention of pesticide poisoning should be reinforced.

Keyword: Farmers Pesticide handling health education Upper Salug Daku Mahayag zamboanga del sur