Farmers' perceptions of safe use of pesticides: determinants and training needs.

Purpose: With focus on the impact of age, farmers' perceptions of importance and competence on pesticide safety measures as well as factors that influence these perceptions were explored in Fars Province of Iran. Farmers' training needs on the pesticide safety measures were also identified and compared using the Borich Needs Assessment Model.

Methods: The study included 155 farmers who were up to 35 years old (young farmers), above 35 up to 50 years old (middle-aged farmers), and above 50 years old (old farmers).