The research carried out by the World Bank in the summer of In 2003 used structured questionnaires to collect information on pesticide use and practices, risk perceptions, knowledge, precautions and damage averting behavior, and health effects from 1,078 farmers (175 owners, 132 applicators & 771 owner+applicator), randomly selected. The survey was designed and supervised by the World Bank team, and conducted by the Development Policy Group in Bangladesh. The survey, by design, focused on major pesticide intensive crops such as Boro (winter rice), potato, bean, eggplant, cabbage, sugarcane and mango. To provide greater depth, 68 randomly-selected farmers who currently use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) were also interviewed. The sample was geographically stratified among 11 districts of Bangladesh as: Bogra, Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, and Rangpur districts in the Rajshahi division (Northwest); Chittagong and Comilla in the Chittagong division (East); Jessore in the Khulna division (West); and Kishoreganj, Munshiganj, Narsingdi, and Mymensingh in the Dhaka division.
To minimize reporting bias, the survey was implemented under the agreement that the team would not reveal the identity of the farms surveyed or the respondents who participated.