Factors Influencing The Pesticide Application Times By Rice Farmers And Its Impact On Arthropods In Jianghan Plain

The Jianghan Plain is one of the most important rice producing areas in China.Chemical control is a routine measure for controlling rice field diseases,pests,and weeds in rice production.However,there are currently few reports on the factors that affect the frequency of chemical control in rice fields in the Jianghan Plain and how the frequency of chemical control affects the diversity of arthropods in rice fields.From 2021 to 2022,in Jingzhou City,Shishou City,Jianli City,Xiantao City,Honghu City,and Qianjiang City in the Jianghan Plain of Hubei Province,a social investigation wih questionnaires was carried out by stratified random sampling method,in which we collected information about the personal endowment,family management characteristics,pesticide cognition,pesticide application behavior,social factors,and chemical control frequency of rice farmers.At the same time,a scanning network method was used to investigate the diversity of arthropod communities in rice fields at the end of rice booting.We analyzed the relationship between these factors and the frequency of chemical control,and the impact of control frequency on the diversity of arthropods in rice fields.Our results will provide a basis for making regulations related to standardized pesticide use and environmentally friendly,sustainable pest management in rice fields.1.Basic information description of farmersThe age structure of the interviewed farmers showed an aging trend,and the average age is 56.4 years.82.61% of farmers have a junior high school education or below,a relatively low level of education.The proportion of farmers working part-time is low,with only 293 households having part-time employment,meaning that the vast majority of their livelihoods rely solely on agricultural production income.The vast majority of farmers have not joined cooperatives,and the proportion of rice demonstration households and family farms is very small.The average rice planting area of rice farmers is 1.95 ha,and most farmers plant rice for a long time with rich planting experience.2.The frequency of pest and weed controlAccording to the survey data,the average number of times farmers have used pest control is 2.43,at least 0 times,and the most is 6 times.The number of times of pest control is mostly 3-4 times,accounting for 50.66%.The average number of weed control is 1.72,at least 0 times,and the most is 6 times.The frequency of weed control is mostly 1-2 times,accounting for 80.17%.3.Factors influencing the frequency of pest and weed controlUsing individual characteristics,household characteristics,pesticide cognition,pesticide application behavior,and social factors as independent variables,and the frequency of pest and weed control as dependent variable,respectively,linear models are developed by the stepwise multiple linear regression method.The results showed that seven variables such as years of education,part-time employment,whether it is a family farm,ability to distinguish chemical pesticides from biological pesticides,and strictly following the instructions have significant effects on the number of pest control(P<0.05).Twelve variables,including years of education,part-time employment,village cadres,whether they are family farms,understanding the hazards of pesticide application,and carefully reading label instructions when purchasing pesticides,have a significant impact on the frequency of weed control(P<0.05).4.The impact of prevention and control frequency on arthropods in rice fieldsA total of 42844 rice field arthropods were captured,belonging to 12 orders,78 families,and 117 species.Hymenoptera is the most numerous species,followed by Hemiptera and Diptera,accounting for 27.35%,20.51% and 18.80% of the total species,respectively.The dominant species with more than 10% of the total captured population are Chironomus sp.,Simulium sp.and Sogatella furcifera.The common species with more than 1% to 10% of the total captured population are Ptarygogramma sp.,Cnaphalocrocis medinalis,Hydrellia sasakii,Chloropa sp.,Nephotettix bipunctatus,Haplothrips sp.,Ischnura asiatica and Leucauge subblanda.In terms of functional groups,phytophagous arthropods are the most abundant species,followed by parasites and predators.Neutral arthropods have the lowest species richness,but their individual numbers account for the largest proportion,reaching56.27%.A linear regression analysis is conducted between the frequency of pest and weed control and the diversity index of arthropods in rice fields.The results showed that there is a significant negative correlation between the frequency of pest control and the Shannon-Wiener index of arthropods in rice fields(P=0.016).There is a significant negative correlation between the frequency of weed control and the Shannon-Wiener index(P<0.001),Simpson index(P=0.002),and Pielou index(P<0.001)of arthropods in rice fields.The frequency of pest control does not significantly affect each functional group,but the frequency of weed control shows a significant positive correlation with the abundance of neutral arthropods(P=0.011).In summary,the personal endowment,family management characteristics,pesticide awareness,application behavior,and social factors of rice farmers have a significant impact on the frequency of chemical control.It was also found that the frequency of chemical control can significantly reduce the diversity of arthropods in rice fields.Based on this,the government should increase investment in rural education.The plant protection department should strengthen publicity,training,and guidance to improve farmers’ awareness of pesticides,help them master safe and reasonable methods of using pesticides,improve control effectiveness,reduce chemical control frequency,and protect the diversity of arthropods in rice fields.