Pests

: 28 April 2017; Hits: 8303

Plant extracts show positive results in containing fall armyworm

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Nyamira County farmer James Mocheche stands beside tephrosia vogelii tree, whose roots he says, discourage moles from destroying maize and sweet potatoes . Farmers are turning to terephosia vogelii and neem extracts to control fall armyworm.

Farmers in Africa are turning to tree extracts in search of affordable and effective alternative to synthetic pesticides to the fall armyworm, which is threatening to wipe out more than 87.5 million acres of maize and more other crops.

The farmers are banking on positive reports on neem and tephrosia vogelii extracts of neem reducing the population of the FAW in maize fields in Zambia.

Apart from maize, the worm feeds on more than 80 types of crops including wheat, sorghum, peas, pastures, beans, potatoes, among others.

Although synthetic chemicals have not failed in controlling the pest, Zambian Researcher Mathew Matimelo said farmers are not sticking to the recommended dilution ratios. This makes the farmers feel the organic pesticides are not working.

Matimelo, who is the principal research officer at the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute, was speaking in Nairobi during a two-day global meeting of agriculture stakeholders. The meeting is seeking strategies of containing the pest that can lead to 100 per cent crop loss if uncontrolled.

Although the trials on the efficacy of the extracts from the two trees are ongoing, the researcher said positive results have been seen.

Besides the cost of organic chemicals being expensive for weekly application for most small-scale farmers, overdose out of desperation to contain the pest is not only increasing the cost of production, but also leading to emergency of resistance from the survivor worms.

“Pests develop resistance to (synthetic) pesticides if the doses are doubled. Neem extracts have shown some effectiveness in controlling FAW. The test results so far are very impressive,” Matimelo said.

farmers in Malawi are already using the neem extracts, though it has not given the intended results with a number of factors like rate of application influencing the positive outcome. The pest is hard to control because it burrows into the whorls, stems and cobs mostly in the day.

The two trees have been used for centuries in the control of pests. They are still used in the commercial manufacture of other pesticides and other drugs.

In neem, azadiractin A is one of the active elements that blocks production and release of molting hormones in pests, according to a research published in the US NCBI resource centre.

This interferes with the lifecycle of the pest, which gradually reduces in population.

The tephrosia tree was applied in the control of field and storage pests for centuries until the introduction of the DDT, whose was discontinued due to its threat to safety.

The rotenone - the active ingredient in the tephorosia extracts - is poisonous to insects and a number of animals like fish.

One kilogramme of the leaves is crashed for mixing with five litres of water, according to the World Agroforestry Centre. The rotenone is naturally degraded after five to seven days, therefore, reducing its danger to humans.

Although they are derived from plants locally, farmers must exercise caution since they are equally poisonous to human.

The FAW covers 100km per day. After the first case was reported in Nigeria in January 2016, the pest had colonised the Southern African region by January 2017. It was first detected in Kenya in March 2017.

Affected countries include Angola, Zambia, South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Tanzania, Swaziland, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, among others.

The meeting was organised by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)

It can cause up to 70 per cent losses, and if uncontrolled, the damage can reach 100 per cent. The larvae feed on leaves, tassels and ears of maize. The leaves have ragged continued holes.

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: 27 April 2017; Hits: 8231

Experts meet in Nairobi to solve fall armyworm menace in Africa

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A University of Nebraska diagram showing the features of the fall army worm. Photo by University of Nebraska.

Global agriculture stakeholders meeting in Nairobi are working out the best integrated pest management practices to complement chemicals in controlling the fall armyworm (FAW), which has attacked more than 750,000 acres of maize in the continent.

From the two-day deliberations, the researchers, government and non-governmental organisations and other private stakeholders are forging short-term, mid-term and long-term solutions to the fast spreading pest that is threatening food security in Africa.

Besides maize, FAW feeds on more than 80 other crops including wheat, sorghum, potatoes, sugarcane, pastures, among others. It spreads at a speed of 100km per day, according to FAO.

It can cause up to 70 per cent losses, and if uncontrolled, the damage can reach 100 per cent. The larvae feed on leaves, tassels and ears of maize. The leaves have ragged continued holes.

“Management (IPM) is one of the best solutions of controlling the pest. America has not eliminated the FAW. It is about finding the cost-effective, efficient and easy application ways of controlling the pest,” Boddupalli Prasanna, the CIMMYT director of global maize programme, said.

He added that technology can help, but it may take more than two years before hybrids resistant to the FAW are bred and commercialized in Africa, yet farmers need immediate actions.

AGRA’s Vice President for Programme and Innovation Joe DeVries said early detection and rapid response are the immediate actions that could control the pest from spreading and damaging more crops.

“It is about placing the farmer at the heart of the fight against the FAW. We (various organisation) must support the farmers using chemicals and other concoctions in fighting the pest,” Dr DeVries said.

The FAW - a pest native to the North, Central and South America - was first reported in Nigeria in January 2016. Within a year, it has engulfed almost the entire Sub-Saharan Africa. It resembles the African armyworm.

One of the differentiating features of the FAW from the African type is the inverted ‘Y’ shaped white mark running from the back to the forehead towards the mouth.

At the detection of the FAW, farmers apply the normal dosage of chemical pesticides thinking it is the African type. When the pest persists, they double the dosage, which is not only threatening the food safety, but also the environment.

Overdose application may also result in emergency of resistance from the few that may survive the ‘knock down method’.

“Information must be harnessed and shared between the organisations and the farmers. Farmer’s methods, which have somehow succeeded, have to be included in the fight against the FAW,” USAID Deputy Mission Director to East Africa Candace Buzzard said.

Researcher, Mathew Matimelo, said farmers in Zambia using neem tree extracts have reported “impressive” results in controlling the pest.

Besides training the farmers, FAO official Mathew Abong said local scouts and chiefs have to be involved in the identification and reporting of the emergency of the pest to authorities for quick action.

FAO representative to Kenya, Gabriel Rugalema, said there must be sub-regional and regional efforts to combat the pest adding that they do not know borders.

In Kenya, the invasion has been reported in more than five counties in the western and Rift Valley regions.

Representing the government of Kenya, Clement Muyesu said the Ministry of Agriculture has requested for an additional Sh320 million from the National Treasury to effectively fight the FAW that is threatening to wipe out between 27,500 acres and 37,500 acres of maize.

Among other functions, the money will be used in buying pesticides for the farmers, who cannot afford.

Upon detection, the government sent aside Sh100 million for surveillance and other control measures.

The FAW covers 100km per day. After the first case was reported in Nigeria in 2016, the pest has colonised the Southern African region by January 2017. It was first detected in Kenya in March 2017.

Affected countries include Angola, Zambia, South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Tanzania, Swaziland, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, among others.

Although individual small-scale farmers cannot afford surveillance pheromones that attract the males to the trap nets, checking for the inverted ‘Y’ running on the forehead confirms the infestation.

A search on 20 plants in five locations or 10 plants in 10 locations is adequate to assess the infestation extent.

The April 27-28 meeting is taking place at the Villa Rosa Kempinski hotel, Nairobi.

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: 13 April 2017; Hits: 7651

Aflasafe ends aflatoxin agony

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Farmers applying Aflasafe at a maize farm. Aflasafe eliminates aflatoxins by between 80 per cent and 99 per cent in a season. Photo by IITA.

Kenyans will no longer die from the poisonous aflatoxin causing fungi with the introduction of a biological solution against the poison.
More than five people have died in the pasts and livestock poisoned after the consumption of food and feeds contaminated by the aflatoxin.
Millions of tonnes of maize have been destroyed in the past to control further poisoning in the preparation of animal feeds and human food.
But an application of four kilos of Aflasafe on one acre of maize two to three weeks before flowering, protects the crop until consumption.
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)’s Charity Mutegi said the biological control against the poison causing Aspergillus flavus offers between 80 per cent and 99 per cent per given season.
Aflasafe looks like seed sorghum, although coloured blue to differentiate it from food and feed sorghum. The grains are subjected to heat before coating with four native beneficial fungi that progressively displace the poisonous strain,” Mutegi said.
The native beneficial fungi multiply faster than the ‘enemy’, therefore, limiting its survival resources like food.
The four are region-specific, in that, the aflatoxin fighting fungi used in Nigeria, The Gambia may not work in Kenya. Development of the anti A. flavus is done based on the findings of the most prevalent and its competitors in the given region.

Tens of thousands of farmers in various countries in Africa are using the product, realising more than 80 per cent positive results.
Aflasafe is registered in Kenya, The Gambia, Senegal, and Nigeria.
The protection is defines as from plot to plate, to mean that the poisonous fungus cannot affect the produce either at the field or at the stores, when Aflasafe use is complemented with good agricultural practices, particularly in drying and storage.
In countries where Aflasafe is commercially available, 10kilos cost between the equivalent of Sh1,240 and Sh2,070. Four kilos are applied on one acre.
But there are packages 2.5kilos and five kilos for small-scale farmers, who may not buy 10kg packs. Alternative pack sizes are being considered to give farmers a broader choice and for easy and accurate application. Aflasafe will be locally manufactured when a factory under construction in Eastern Kenya is completed in June 2017.

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