Insecticide Handling in Cocoa Production in Four Regions in Ghana

Abstract

Management of insect pests of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) using insecticides began in 1950 and has since gone through various programmes with concomitant challenges and successes. Presently Imidacloprid (Confidor®), Bifenthrin (Akatemaster®) and Thiamethoxam (Actara®) are recommended by Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) for the management of insect pests. A survey was conducted in the Ashanti, Eastern, Volta and Western Regions of Ghana using questionnaires and farm visits of 147 cocoa farmers' fields to gather information on the characteristics of the farmers and insecticide handling and use by respondents. The survey showed that males dominated cocoa farming (72.7%) and most of them aged between 50 and 60 years. About 44% have had basic education whilst 37.5% of them belonged to farmer based organizations. About 52.8% of the farmers own motorized mistblower but 47.2% of the farmers use knapsack in the absence of a mistblower. About 44.8% do their own spray application whereas 55.2% hire labour. About 60.9% of the population across the regions read the label on the insecticides before application. A few (31.6 %) of the respondents put on the full personal protective costume during insecticide application and 21.9% do not use any protection. There was a positive correlation between farmers' membership of farmer-based organisation and the costume-wearing farmers in the Ashanti, Eastern and Volta Regions and it was significant in the Ashanti region. It is recommended that training and monitoring programmes be organized for farmers on the need to handle pesticides properly for personal and environmental safety and consumer benefit. pong, 2006). Cocoa mirids commonly called capsids have been recognised as serious pests since 1908 (Dungeon, 1910) due to their devastating effect on cocoa production. Mirid control has for more than a century been based on

Modeling Ghanaian cocoa farmers’ decision to use pesticide and frequency of application: the case of Brong Ahafo Region

“…The lack of knowledge of the Ghana COCOBOD recommended frequency of pesticides application per growing season could result in farmers using chemicals improperly. This can increase the issue of chemical residues in soils, harvested cocoa beans, water sources near cocoa farms as well as pesticide resistance and pest resurgence (Antwi-Agyakwa et al 2015 ).…”

“…Although studies have assessed factors influencing farmers’ choice of pesticide or use of pesticide (Adejumo et al 2014 ; Anang and Amikuzuno 2015 ), little information is known in the case of Ghana, particularly, on cocoa farmers. Also, studies which sort to assess frequency of pesticide application (Avicor et al 2011 ; Oesterlund et al 2014 ; Antwi-Agyakwa et al 2015 ), only described the frequency of pesticide application and did not estimate the factors which influence frequency of pesticide application.…”

Human Exposures to Neonicotinoids in Kumasi, Ghana

“…According to Dankyi et al (2014), NNI formulations registered at the Environmental Protection Agency's pesticide registry of Ghana dominate over all other registered insecticides. Currently, IMI (Confidor ® ), THXM (Actara ® ), TCP (Proteus ® ), and ACE (Cocoprid ® ) are authorized for pest control on Ghanaian cacao farms (Dankyi et al 2014;Afari-Sefa et al 2015;Antwi-Agyakwa et al 2015). Moreover, various ACE-containing formulations (Bufallo, Golan, Lambda, and K-optimal) have been approved for pest control on fruit and vegetable farms in Ghana (Afari-Sefa et al 2015).…”

Evaluation of cocoa mirid (Distantiella theobroma Dist. and Sahlbergella singularis Hagl.) control practices in Cte dIvoire

“…Products used are approved for use in cocoa cultivation in Côte d'Ivoire (Ahoutou et al, 2015). Also in Ghana (Awudzi et al, 2016a;Anikwe et al, 2009a;Adu-Acheampong et al, 2014;Antwi-Agyakwa et al, 2015), Cameroon (Mahob et al, 2011) and Nigeria (Asogwa and Dongo, 2009), after Côte d'Ivoire, respectively second, fourth and fifth largest cocoaproducing countries in the world, similar neonicotenoids (imidacloprid, acetamiprid) and pyrethroids (bifenthrin, deltamethrin and cypermethrin) are common in cocoa cultivation. The rapid mirid assessment did not reveal significant differences in tree infestation rates between plots that were treated with insecticides in the latest application period and those that were not.…”

“…Thus, health and environmental concerns linked to pesticide applications in West African cocoa production, together with the labour and product costs of pesticide application urge for their rational application. However, West African cocoa producers apply an array of insecticides at frequencies that vary between 0 to 11 times per year (Mahob et al, 2011;Antwi-Agyakwa et al, 2015). Since the 1950s, West African governmental agencies have recommended (Awudzi et al, 2016b;Adu-Acheampong et al, 2014;Antwi-Agyakwa et al, 2015;Ahoutou et al, 2015) a calendar-based insecticide application scheme, using motorised knapsack mistblowers, targeting mirid populations when they are most abundant (August -November).…”