Nairobi, Kenya
April 13, 2007
The Swiss-based BioVision, Kilimo
Trust Uganda and the Nairobi-headquartered
icipe – African Insect Science
for Food and Health, have recently achieved a major
milestone towards maximising maize and sorghum production, while
improving the health and income of small-scale farmers in East
Africa.
This follows the collaboration of these organisations towards
the development of a curriculum for Farmers Field Schools (FFS)
on the icipe’s ‘push-pull’ technology, an innovative strategy,
which simultaneously combats stemborer moths, striga weeds, and
poor soil fertility. Stemborers and striga together can, if not
controlled, lead to as much as 100% yield losses of maize. As a
result, although maize is the most important staple food in sub
Saharan Africa (SSA), the region’s average per hectare yield of
this cereal is the lowest in the world, and far below the
population’s needs. Maize harvests that would be saved by
controlling these two pests could feed an additional 27 million
people in SSA.
Unfortunately, small-scale farmers who contribute more than 80%
of the continent’s maize production often lack the money to buy
synthetic pesticides, which are in any case not only harmful to
the environment, but usually ineffective as well.
‘Push-pull’ is the result of a 10-year quest by Rothamsted
Research, United Kingdom in collaboration with the
Nairobi-headquartered icipe – African Insect Science for Food,
Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, livestock and fisheries to
provide such farmers with environmentally-friendly and
sustainable methods to control these two pests.
The strategy uses a novel combination of forage plants which,
when intercropped with cereals, act as both a trap and a
repellent for stemborers and striga. The two plants so far
employed by icipe are Napier grass, which attracts the moths,
and desmodium, which produces semiochemicals that repel
stemborers. Napier, planted as a border around the main crop,
‘pulls’ them away from the cereal and leaving it protected
Desmodium is planted intimately within the rows of maize or
sorghum to ‘push’ the pests. In addition, the roots of desmodium
generate several isoflavones, some of which inhibit the
germination, while others prevent the attachment of striga seeds
to the root of the cereal.
Currently, more than 7000 farmers in 19 districts in Kenya and
in five districts in Uganda are practising push-pull, while
training demonstrations have started in Tanzania. In these
sites, ‘push-pull’ has increased maize yields by an average of
25% in areas where only stemborers are present, and by more than
80% where both stemborers and striga are a problem. In addition,
‘push-pull’ has contributed to the augmentation of livestock
production, especially on small farms where pressure on land is
high, since both napier grass and desmodium provide quality
fodder for livestock. Importantly too, the technology increases
soil fertility as desmodium has nitrogen-fixing and moisture
retention qualities.
The recently launched ‘push-pull’ curriculum is based on the
realisation that poor dissemination of research technologies is
partly to blame for continuing decline in agricultural
productivity, and the increasing poverty among small-holder
farmers in SSA. The aim of the collaborating institutions,
therefore, is to expand the ‘push-pull’ technology to as many
farmers as possible, taking into account its knowledge intensive
nature and the need to guide end-users in learning its
principles and practices. The curriculum will also be an
important resource for the national extension system, the NGOs
and the Community Based Organisations (CBOs).
The curriculum is a product of input from several individuals
and organisations in the region, including farmers, research
scientists, agricultural extension officers, practitioners from
Non Governmental Organisations and donors.
icipe – African insect science for food and health, was
established in 1970 in direct response to the need for
alternative and environmentally friendly pest and vector
management strategies. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, icipe is
mandated to conduct research and develop methods that are
effective, selective, non-polluting, non-resistance inducing,
and which are affordable to resource-limited rural and urban
communities. icipe’s mandate further extends to the conservation
and utilisation of the rich insect biodiversity found in Africa.
By Liz Nganga |
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