Journal of Agricultural Science and Food Research
Open Access

Farmers' work-related injuries and diseases in India

Pranay Kumar^{* *}Correspondence: Pranay Kumar, National Institute of Occupational health, Indian Council of Medical Research, Ahmedabad 380016, India, Email:

Author info »

Introduction

The Indian farming employs 225 million manpower to hide a hundred and forty million hectares of total plowland. In spite of speedy farm mechanization (e.g., 149 million farm machinery), the immense resource-poor family farming has primary dependence on ancient ways (e.g., 520 million hand tools and thirty seven million animal-drawn implements area unit in operation). The work donkeywork, the traumatic accidents and injuries area unit the foremost issues to look at choices for technology intervention and betterment of labor in crop production activities. This review summarizes human energy expenditure in crop production activities, to assess the work severity, tools and machinery, and formulate the premise to reorganize work and work ways. whereas the farm mechanization is additional within the northern Bharat, the accidents were additional within the villages in southern Bharat. on the average of the four regions, the tractor incidents (overturning, falling from the tractor, etc.) were highest (27.7%), followed by thresher (14.6%), sprayer/duster (12.2%), sugarcane device (8.1%) and chaff cutter (7.8%) accidents. Most of the fatal accidents resulted from the powered machinery, with the annual death rate calculable as twenty two per one hundred,000 farmers [1].

It is terribly troublesome to know this standing of work-related injuries and diseases in farmers comprehensively. However, varied work-related injuries and diseases in Korean farmers area unit thought to occur, as well as injuries by farming machinery and tools, toxic condition, peasant syndrome, vinyl house malady, metastasis diseases, infectious and skin diseases. notably zoonoses as well as brucellosis, rickettsiosis tend to extend, and system issues by awkward posture, repetition, and long period work area unit on the increase. furthermore Korean farmers themselves don't pay a lot of attention to those issues and farmers don't seem to be thought-about a priority by health care facilities either since the amount of individuals concerned in farming has declined and are recent aged dramatically in recent years. however at the national level, several efforts and issues for up agricultural safety and health have recently been created and these problems became a significant focus of analysis in Korea [2].

Farm machinery may be a major explanation for injury morbidity and mortality among farmers. This case-control study assessed risk factors for machinery-related injuries among Iowa farmers. A guard form sent to six,999 farmers in 1998 known 205 farmers UN agency had machinery-related injuries requiring medical advice/ treatment within the previous year. potential risk factors for injury were assessed among these farmers compared with 473 farmers with no injury within the previous year. A multiple logistical multivariate analysis showed important associations between machinery-related injury and hours per week spent on farmwork (OR=two.02; ninety fifth CI one.38-2.94), fewer years of farming expertise (OR=one.79; ninety fifth CI one.14-2.79), carrying a hearing aid (OR=four.37; ninety fifth CI one.55-12.25), and a high CAGE score suggesting downside drinking (OR=two.49; ninety fifth CI one.00-6.19) [3].

Farm mechanization has resulted in intensive use of wheat threshers on Indian farms. it's conjointly redoubled agricultural injuries. A prospective study was undertaken for analysis of wheat thresher agricultural injuries and their remedial measures. Fifty 2 patients presenting with thresher injuries throughout the wheat gathering season of March to Gregorian calendar month, 2003 were studied. A study-specific 14-point proforma was ready to assemble all potential data from website of injury to hospital records. Injuries were principally of the higher limb and amputations accounted for many of those. Poor light-weight arrangements, unskilled staff, drug/alcoholic abuse, fatigue, poor coming up with and lack of orientation to figure on these machines were the tributary factors to such injuries [4].

References

1. Pranab KN, Anjali Nag. Drudgery, accidents and injuries in Indian agriculture. Ind Health. 2004;42(2):149-62.
2. Kwan L, Hyun-Sul Lim. Work-related injuries and diseases of farmers in Korea. Ind Health. 2008;46(5):424-34.
3. Nancy L Sprince, Hyesook Park, Craig Zwerling, Charles F Lynch, Paul A Whitten, Kendall Thu, et al. Risk factors for machinery-related injury among Iowa farmers: a case-control study nested in the Agricultural Health Study. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2002;8(4):332-8.
4. R Singh, Sharma AK, S Jain, S C Sharma, N K Magu Wheat thresher agricultural injuries: a by-product of mechanised farming. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2005;17(1):36-9.