Ecological pest management
As our magazine has regularly shown, there have been many positive pest management experiences during these last 20 years. As a result of a comprehensive IPM approach, farmers have been able to increase their yields and incomes.
Many examples have shown a reduced reliance on pesticides, effectively diminishing their use. IPM has had many successes, but the magnitude of the problem which farmers currently face forces us to look once again at pests and diseases and at their management.
LEISA Magazine | 23.4 | December 2007
Table of contents:
-
1 - 1Ecological pest management
-
2 - 4
-
4 - 5written by ILEIA editorial teamAs our magazine has regularly shown, there have been many positive pest management experiences during these last 20 years. As a result of a comprehensive IPM approach, farmers have been able to increase their yields and incomes.
-
6 - 7written by Mans LantingThis article presents a vision of how pest and disease problems in agriculture can be addressed. It is based on experiences in different semi-arid regions, mainly in India and West Africa. The principles which it looks at, though, are valid in any system and any climate zone.
-
8 - 10Millions of rural people in Eastern Africa depend on maize and sorghum for food security and cash income. Despite this, production of these crops is seriously affected by constraints such as stemborers, the parasitic weed 'Striga hermonthica', low and declining soil fertility, lack of knowledge on how to manage these pests and weaknesses in the extension system.
-
11 - 13Since the beginning of agriculture, around 12 000 years ago, humans have been struggling to reduce the adverse effects of pests on crop production and storage. The development of synthetic pesticides revolutionised pest management in agriculture.
-
12 - 13written by Shantanu Kumar , P.H. SinghPotato is an important crop in the state of Meghalaya, India, occupying a major place in the agrarian pattern as well as in the dietary habits of the population. However, the average productivity here is only 9.2 t/ha, far below the national average of 18 t/ha.
-
14 - 15written by Laércio Meirelles , André Luiz Rodrigues Gonçalves , Ricardo Barreto , Cristiano Motter , Luís Carlos Rupp , Maria José GuazzelliIn agriculture, as in nature, a healthy system is most easily achieved in environments which have the greatest variety of species. A diversified agricultural system is more able to maintain its equilibrium through the multiple relationships which exist between the biotic and abiotic components.
-
16 - 17written by Jeffery BentleyAlthough “plant clinics” have been known in the U.S. and other countries for some years, a whole network is now emerging in countries like Bolivia, Nicaragua and Bangladesh, responding to the efforts of both governmental agencies and NGOs. Most of these are supported by the Global Plant Clinic (GPC), an international service led by CABI in the U.K. These “clinics” are simple places, often little more than a table and some chairs, in a farmer-friendly place in a small town.
-
18 - 20written by Steven R BelmainMany people have problems with pest rodents. Rats eat our crops, contaminate our stored food, damage our buildings and possessions and spread dangerous diseases to people and livestock. Compared to insect pests, controlling rats and mice can seem difficult.
-
21 - 23written by Hein W.L. Bijlmakers , Muhammad Ashraful IslamThe Farmer Field School (FFS) approach was developed in the late 1980s in Indonesia, as described in LEISA Magazine Volume 19.1 and many other publications. This agricultural extension method was originally designed to educate rice farmers about the concept of biological control, and to familiarise them with Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
-
24 - 25written by Rajendra Hegde , Dr. Arun BalamattiThe Farmer Field School (FFS) approach has become wellknown after the positive experiences seen in Indonesia and other Asian countries.
-
26 - 27written by Hery ChristantoKemiri is a village in Kepanjen subdistrict, Malang, East Java, Indonesia. Farmers cultivate corn, soya beans, peanuts and vegetables, but their main crop is rice. However, rice productivity in Kemiri has not been constant recently, fluctuating with the seasons and the weather. In the past two years, pests and diseases have caused serious damage to rice in June and July.
-
28 - 29written by Stephen Sherwood , Ir. Marc SchutAfter discovering the seriousness of pesticide problems in Carchi, Ecuador, farmers and their communities began to search for ways to decrease reliance on agrochemicals. In 1999 the Farmer Field School (FFS) methodology was introduced, of which early results were promising.
-
30 - 31written by Arulanandam Vakeesan , Gunasingham MikunthanCoconut, Cocos nucifera (Arecaceae) is one of the most valuable perennial crops of the humid tropics. In Sri Lanka, it is grown in the coastal regions, and is seen as one of the key plantation crops because it contributes to the country’s economy and is a main part of the daily diet of the average Sri Lankan, providing 25 percent of the daily calorie intake.
-
30 - 31Mr. Manickavasagam is an organic farmer living in North Poigainallur, a coastal village in Nagapattinam, in the state of Tamil Nadu. His farm escaped unaffected while his neighbours’ fields suffered total crop losses as a result of the attack of the brown plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens, or BPH) in 2005.
-
32 - 34written by Hans Peter ReindersNiek Vos’ organic farm is located in the centre of the Netherlands, on land which was reclaimed from the sea nearly 60 years ago. This area is now known as the North East Polder, and as it is below sea level, the polder is surrounded by enormous dikes that protect it from flooding.
-
35 - 35written by Patrick E M MwalukisaField notes
-
36 - 37
-
38 - 38
-
39 - 39
-
40 - 40ILEIA’s Documentation programme has had a good start in 2007. In March, together with issue 23.1, we distributed “Learning from experience”, the documentation manual which ILEIA developed and which we have since been working with.
Print this