Determining smallholder farmers' preferences for technology dissemination pathways: The case of 'push-pull' technology in the control of stemborer and Striga weeds in Kenya

Publication Type

Journal Article

Journal Name

International Journal of Pest Management

Publication Date

1-1-1995

Abstract

Sweetpotato weevils (Cylas puncticollis (Bohe.) and C. brunneus (Fabr.) Coteoptera: Apionidae) are the most important insect pests in South Nyanza, Kenya's principal sweetpotato‐growing district. A pest of secondary importance is the sweetpotato butterfly (Acraea acerata (Hew.) Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Cultural control is currently the most promising component of an integrated pest management strategy for subsistence sweetpotato farmers in Kenya. A survey of fanners’ cultural practices in South Nyanza suggests that crop protection workers should concentrate their research and extension efforts on crop sanitation and the avoidance of adjacent planting of successive crops. The life cycle and behaviour of the sweetpotato weevils and butterfly should be explained to farmers, so that they better understand the insects’ modes of dispersal and thus see the need for sanitation and adjacent planting. © 1995 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Keywords

Acraea acerata, Cultural control, Cylas spp, Sweetpotato, Sweetpotato weevil

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