Farmers’ Knowledge and Practices in the Management of Insect Pests of Leafy Amaranth in Kenya

Abstract

Amaranth (Amaranthus L.) species are grown for their grain or leaves and contribute to farmers’ livelihoods and nutritional food security. Leafy amaranth (LA) is consumed widely as a vegetable in Kenya. An assessment of current farmers’ knowledge of pest management practices provides information about future educational needs. Six-hundred LA farmers were interviewed, focus group discussions with farmers, and interviews with key informants were completed in four Kenyan counties. The majority (71%) of survey respondents grew LA on less than 0.25 acre (<0.1 ha) and 59.2% were female. Constraints of LA production differed by counties surveyed. Farmers indicated insects and birds were important in Kiambu and Kisumu counties, whereas in Vihiga and Kisii, capital, markets, and land area for production were important. Farmers stated and ranked importance of the insects they observed during LA production. Eighty-seven percent stated aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae), as a major pest and 96.8% ranked aphids as the number-one insect pest of LA in all four counties. Two other pests of LA included cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (0.8%) and spider mites, Tetranychus spp (Trombidiformes; Tetranychidae) (0.7%). Forty-two percent of all LA farmers managed aphids, with 34% using synthetic insecticides and 8% using nonsynthetic methods. Biological controls and host-plant resistance were not mentioned. Educational programs that train farmers about integrated pest management (IPM) in LA production are needed. Future research should determine successful IPM strategies for aphids on LA to reduce insecticide use and improve sustainability and nutritional food security for small-landholder farmers and consumers.

Towards Expanding Quinoa Cultivation in Egypt: The Effect of Compost and Vermicompost on Quinoa Pests, Natural Enemies and Yield under Field Conditions

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Sustainable Management of the Red Palm Weevil: The Nexus between Farmers’ Adoption of Integrated Pest Management and Their Knowledge of Symptoms

“…Such information is vital in developing participatory IPM and as a basis for the adaptation of pest management technologies by local farming systems [29,30]. Furthermore, determining knowledge and adoption gaps is useful for developing educational programs to train farmers, setting the research agenda, testing research hypotheses, designing extension strategies, and evaluating the effectiveness of projects and development interventions [20,25,28,31]. In light of the scarce research available in the area of assessing farmers' knowledge and adoption of RPW management, the present study addresses this gap by achieving the following objectives: (i) clarifying farmers' knowledge of RPW symptoms, (ii) identifying farmers' adoption of management practices, and (iii) analyzing the nexus between farmers' adoption of RPW IPM and their knowledge of symptoms.…”

Integrated pest management: good intentions, hard realities. A review

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