Pest Control in Primary Sector: Towards the Identification of Knowledge Gaps
Pest control provides important and useful services in rural and urban environments, activities, and value chains. Despite the significance of them, under operational, environmental and food security and safety terms, there are still gaps in the awareness level of targeted groups. Therefore, in the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/8/1596 |
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| author | Angeliki Stefopoulou Dionyssia A. Maselou Dimitrios Papachristos Antonios Kolimenakis Antonios Michaelakis Christos Athanassiou George Vlontzos |
| author_facet | Angeliki Stefopoulou Dionyssia A. Maselou Dimitrios Papachristos Antonios Kolimenakis Antonios Michaelakis Christos Athanassiou George Vlontzos |
| author_sort | Angeliki Stefopoulou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pest control provides important and useful services in rural and urban environments, activities, and value chains. Despite the significance of them, under operational, environmental and food security and safety terms, there are still gaps in the awareness level of targeted groups. Therefore, in the current work, we have carried out questionnaire-based surveillance to pest control operators in Greece and Cyprus, in an attempt to illustrate their knowledge regarding pest control in conjunction with demographic characteristics. In this context, the results underlined the need for further training in all aspects of pest control, but also relative activities that are often are operated by pest controllers, such as food safety activities and applications in the urban and sub-urban environment. The replies that had been obtained during the survey showed good correlations of knowledge with specific variables, such as the size of the company, the age group, and the educational background, in conjunction with the country in which the professional activities are carried out. To our knowledge, this is the first work of its kind, in terms of pest controllers’ perceptions and self-evaluation, illustrating specific knowledge gaps that have to be alleviated towards improved services in urban pest control, especially in sensitive urban areas and facilities, and improved measures for safety during the applications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:05:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-357647d8bcff4d89a401e9618265e07b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:05:06Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-357647d8bcff4d89a401e9618265e07b2023-11-22T06:26:10ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952021-08-01118159610.3390/agronomy11081596Pest Control in Primary Sector: Towards the Identification of Knowledge GapsAngeliki Stefopoulou0Dionyssia A. Maselou1Dimitrios Papachristos2Antonios Kolimenakis3Antonios Michaelakis4Christos Athanassiou5George Vlontzos6Department of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Benaki Phyropathological Institute, 14561 Kifissia, GreeceDepartment of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Benaki Phyropathological Institute, 14561 Kifissia, GreeceDepartment of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Benaki Phyropathological Institute, 14561 Kifissia, GreeceDepartment of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Benaki Phyropathological Institute, 14561 Kifissia, GreeceDepartment of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Benaki Phyropathological Institute, 14561 Kifissia, GreeceDepartment of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Development, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Thessaly, 38446 Volos, GreeceDepartment of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Development, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Thessaly, 38446 Volos, GreecePest control provides important and useful services in rural and urban environments, activities, and value chains. Despite the significance of them, under operational, environmental and food security and safety terms, there are still gaps in the awareness level of targeted groups. Therefore, in the current work, we have carried out questionnaire-based surveillance to pest control operators in Greece and Cyprus, in an attempt to illustrate their knowledge regarding pest control in conjunction with demographic characteristics. In this context, the results underlined the need for further training in all aspects of pest control, but also relative activities that are often are operated by pest controllers, such as food safety activities and applications in the urban and sub-urban environment. The replies that had been obtained during the survey showed good correlations of knowledge with specific variables, such as the size of the company, the age group, and the educational background, in conjunction with the country in which the professional activities are carried out. To our knowledge, this is the first work of its kind, in terms of pest controllers’ perceptions and self-evaluation, illustrating specific knowledge gaps that have to be alleviated towards improved services in urban pest control, especially in sensitive urban areas and facilities, and improved measures for safety during the applications.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/8/1596pest control operatorsfood safetyurban pestspublic healthsafetybiocides |
| spellingShingle | Angeliki Stefopoulou Dionyssia A. Maselou Dimitrios Papachristos Antonios Kolimenakis Antonios Michaelakis Christos Athanassiou George Vlontzos Pest Control in Primary Sector: Towards the Identification of Knowledge Gaps Agronomy pest control operators food safety urban pests public health safety biocides |
| title | Pest Control in Primary Sector: Towards the Identification of Knowledge Gaps |
| title_full | Pest Control in Primary Sector: Towards the Identification of Knowledge Gaps |
| title_fullStr | Pest Control in Primary Sector: Towards the Identification of Knowledge Gaps |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pest Control in Primary Sector: Towards the Identification of Knowledge Gaps |
| title_short | Pest Control in Primary Sector: Towards the Identification of Knowledge Gaps |
| title_sort | pest control in primary sector towards the identification of knowledge gaps |
| topic | pest control operators food safety urban pests public health safety biocides |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/8/1596 |
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