Push Pull Pest Management Strategy
Stemborers (Busseola fusca and Chilo partellus) are the cause of 10% of total yield loss in Southern and Eastern Africa and on average 14-15% in sub-Saharan Africa. The larvae cause immense damage to maize and sorghum by burrowing into their stems and eating from within. This not only makes them difficult to detect and remove but also damages the vascular tissue necessary for plant growth. Insecticide effectiveness is low against stemborers, as larvae are protected by protective cell wall layers around the stem . Insecticides are also expensive for poor farmers and can build chemical resistance by the pests. In addition, chemicals are carried into final food products. Instead of trying to prevent the occurrence of pests, the push-pull strategy (also known as stimuli-deterrent) aims to guide their inevitable biological evolution to prevent damage to valued crops. The method proposes that sorghum or corn be intercropped with Desmodium (the “push” plant), which repels the moths as they look to lay their eggs. Desmodium also provides a ground cover and is nitrogen fixing, which improves soil fertility while decreasing labour involved with weeding. This deterrent is used in combination with Napier grass planted around the perimeter of the plot. A study of Kenyan farmers using the push-pull strategy reported an 89% reduction in striga (a parasitic weed), an 83% increase in soil fertility, and 52% effectiveness in stemborer control. Considering that striga, stemborers, and low soil fertility together cause yield losses of an estimated 7 billion US dollars or enough to feed 27 million people, the implementation of this technique could significantly reduce food insecurity.
Read more about this topic: Pennisetum Purpureum
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