Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-xq9c7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-22T03:37:34.977Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Current and future pest management strategies in polycultural systems in East Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2011

R. O. Abasa
R. O. Abasa
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi, Kenya
Get access

Abstract

Polycultural farming is widely practised in East Africa and has the advantage of ensuring a steady supply of food for the family throughout seasons of adequate rainfall. The food crops interplanted are cereals, root and oil crops with at least one legume species. There is a large pest complex associated with the system, but the severity of attack has only been quantified for a few. Pest management is largely indirect relying on natural enemies, weather conditions and removal and destruction of damaged plants. Wood ash is probably the only direct control applied. Crop yield losses are on the average minimal. Among pest management strategies proposed for the future are: introduction and propagation of pest resistant high-yield crop varieties, compatibility between food crops interplanted, suitability of soil types for a given combination, augmentation of beneficial insects and the use of nematode-suppressor plants either as interplants or during crop rotation and fallowing.

Keywords

Polycultural farming systemmonocultural farming systempeasant farmerpest complexescurrent and future pest management strategiescompatibility between cropscrop resistance
Type
Research Articles
Information
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science , Volume 4 , Special Issue 1-2: Crop-Borers and Emerging Strategies for their Control , June 1983 , pp. 167 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Altieri, M. A., Francis, C. A., Schoonhoven, A. and Doll, J. (1978) Insect prevalence in bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and maize (Zea mays) polycultural systems. Field Crops Res. 1, 33–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altieri, M. A. and Whitcomb, W. H. (1980) Weed manipulation for insect pest management in corn. Env. Management 4, 1–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, D. J. (1972) Intercropping with sorghum in Nigeria. Expl. Agric. 8, 139–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banks, C. J. and Macauley, E. D. M. (1967) Effects of Aphis fabae Scop, and its attendant ants and insect predator on yields of field beans (Vicia faba L.). Ann. appl. Biol. 60, 445–453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bardner, R. and Fletcher, K. E. (1974) Insect infestations and their effects on the growth and yield of field crops; a review. Bull. ent. Res. 64, 141–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, J. N. (1971) Energy relations in crop production: a preliminary survey. Ann. appl. Biol. 67, 272–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dempster, J. P. and Coaker, T. H. (1974) Diversification of crop ecosystems as a means of controlling pests. In Biology in Pest and Disease Control (Edited by Jones, D. P. and Solomon, M. E.), pp. 106–114. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Dickinson, J. D. (1972) Alternatives to monoculture in the humid tropics of Latin America. Prof. Geogr. 24, 217–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doutt, R. L. (1972) Biological control: parasites and predators. In Pest Control Strategies for the Future, pp. 288–297. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Doutt, R. L. and Smith, R. F. (1971) The pesticide syndrome-diagnosis and suggested prophylaxis. In Biological Control (Edited by Huffaker, C. B.), pp. 3–14. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Fischer, N. M. (1977) Studies of mixed cropping. II. Population pressures in maize-bean mixtures. Expl. Agric. 13, 185–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francis, C. A., Flor, C. A. and Prager, M. (1968) Effects of bean association on yield and yield components of maize. Crop. Sci. 18, 760–764.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, R. D. (1975) A bean, corn and manioc polyculture cropping system. I. The effect of interspecific competition on crop yield. Turialba 25, 294–301.Google Scholar
Holdridge, L. R. (1959) Ecological indications of the need for a new approach to tropical land use. Econ. Bot. 13, 271–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingram, W. R. (1958) The lepidopterous stalk-borers associated with Gramineae in Uganda, Bull. ent. Res. 49, 367–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janzen, D. H. (1973) Tropical agroecosystems. Science 182, 1212–1219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
La Croix, E. A. S. (1967) Maize stalk-borers in the Coast Province of Kenya. E. Afr. agric. For. J. 33, 49–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Litsinger, J. A. and Moody, K. (1976) Integrated pest management in multiple cropping systems. In Multiple Cropping (Edited by Sanchez, P. A.), pp. 293–316. Am. Soc. Agron. Special Publ. 27, Madison, WS.Google Scholar
McNew, G. L. (1972) Concept of pest management. In Pest Control Strategies for the Future. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Martin, P. B., Lingren, P. D., Green, G. L. and Ridgway, R. L. (1976) Parasitization of two species of Plusilinae and Heliothis spp. after releases of Trichogramma pretiosum in seven crops. Env. Ent. 5, 991–995.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mathez, F. C. (1972) Chilo partellus Swinh., C. orichalcociliellus Strand. (Lep., Crambidae) and Sesamia calamistis Hmps. (Lep., Noctuidae) on maize in the Coast Province, Kenya. Mitt. Schweiz. Entom. Ges. 45, 267–289.Google Scholar
Monteith, L. G. (1959) Influence of food plant of host on attractiveness of the host to tachinid parasites with notes on pre-imaginal conditioning. Can. Ent. 90, 478–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monteith, L. G. (1960) Influence of plants other than the food plants of their host on finding by tachinid parasites. Can. Ent. 92, 641–652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagarkatti, S. and Rao, V. P. (1975) Biology and rearing technique for Sturmiopsis parasitica Curr. (Diptera, Tachinidae), a parasite of graminaceous borers in Africa. Bull. ent. Res. 65, 165–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perrin, R. M. (1977) Pest management in multiple cropping systems. Agroecosystems 3, 93–118.Google Scholar
Pope, G. G. and Irving, N. S. (1976) The control of bird pests of cereals in Africa. Ann. appl. Biol. 84, 107–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Risch, S. (1979) A comparison by sweep sampling of the insect fauna from corn and sweet potato monocultures and polycultures in Costa Rica. Oecologia 42, 195–211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, R. A. and Chiarappa, L. (1975) The proposed FAO international programme on horizontal resistance to crop pests and diseases. Pl. Prot. Bull. FAO 23, 125–129.Google Scholar
Root, R. B. (1973) Organization of a plant-arthropod association in simple and diverse habitats: The fauna of collards (Brassica oleracea). Ecol. Monogr. 43, 95–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swaine, G. (1957) The maize and sorghum stalk-borer, Busseola fusca Fuller in peasant agriculture in Tanganyika Territory, Bull. ent. Res. 48, 711–722.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Bosch, R. and Telford, A. D. (1964) Environmental modification and biological control. In Biological Control of Insect Pests and Weeds (Edited by de Bach, P.), pp. 459–488. Reinhold, New York.Google Scholar
Van Emden, H. F. (1965) The role of uncultivated land in the biology of crop pests and beneficial insects. Sci. Hort. 17, 121–136.Google Scholar
Van Gundy, S. D. (1972) Nonchemical control of nema-todes and root-infesting fungi. In Pest Control Strategies for the Future.pp. 317–329. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Webster, C. C. and Wilson, P. N. (1966) Agriculture in the Tropics. Longmans, London.Google Scholar
Wiley, R. W. and Osiru, D. S. O. (1972) Studies on mixtures of maize and beans with particular reference to plant population. J. agric. Sci. 79, 519–529.Google Scholar