IPM guides for African crops  

An excellent new set of four Integrated Pest Management Extension Guides has been produced in Ghana. The guides will fill the huge gap in illustrated reference material for extension agents on IPM methods and the ecological principles underlying sustainable crop and pest management.

Farmers need to change their strong belief in and dependence on chemical control. The rationale for these field guides is to provide clear, practical advice to encourage this shift in mentality and practice among farmers and extension agents. The aim is to help extension agents working with farmers to improve their pest management decision-making and to apply IPM methods in the context of holistic crop management. Book 1 discusses Principles of IPM: Growing Healthy Crops and Books 2-4 cover IPM Practices for the Production of Cereals and Pulses (maize, rice, millet and sorghum; cowpea, groundnut and soybean); Roots and Tubers and Plantains (cassava, yam, sweet potato; plantain and bananas); and Vegetables (cabbage, cucurbits, eggplant, lettuce, okra, onion, pepper and tomato).
    Each book outlines 16 principles of good crop management from seed and planting material selection, sowing/transplanting, crop rotation, weeding, soil and water management, field observation and sanitation, pest, disease and weed management, enhancement of natural enemies, minimisation of chemical control, to harvesting and storage, giving crop-specific details. The guides are written in simple, clear English in an accessible style and format. Descriptions of the main pests, diseases and weeds of each crop are provided with clear, colour drawings and include information on important natural enemies.
    The outstanding value of this series is the guidance on how to conduct Agro-Ecosystem Analysis (AESA) as the key tool to decision-making and the practical information on IPM strategies and methods and crop husbandry. AESA field observation and sampling advice is outlined for each crop, with appropriate questions for farmers to answer. In cassava and yam, for example, fortnightly observations are suggested during the first three months and then at monthly intervals, with different observations to make during the vegetative growth and harvesting stages. Questions such as: are symptoms of virus infection present; is the infection severe; and how early in the season does it occur? help extension agents to facilitate careful observation, assessment and discussion with farmer groups. Instructions for a variety of pest and crop management methods are detailed, including: preparation of neem seed extract and soap solution; catch crops for bollworm, stem traps for banana weevil, and trap crops for nematode and Striga weed control; soil solarisation and weed-smothering cover crops; seed germination testing and multiplication of clean planting material. 
All these methods and principles have been tried, tested and proven effective with farmers and extension agents in Ghana, Tanzania, Sudan and other countries and proven effective. The strategies and techniques are widely relevant throughout tropical Africa. They emphasise the use of simple, low-cost methods suitable for use by resource-poor farmers and point out that pesticide use is rarely economical under these circumstances. These IPM guides should become essential reading for all extension service and NGO field staff but will also be useful for practical and theoretical exercises in agricultural colleges and secondary schools. A French version is planned. (SW)

Anthony Youdeowei, Integrated Pest Management Extension Guides books 1-4, published by Ministry of Food & Agriculture (MoFA) Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate, Ghana, with German Development Cooperation, GTZ, Accra, Ghana, 2002. The guides will be available from CTA, the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, Postbus 380, 6700 AJ Wageningen, the Netherlands, email: cta@cta.nl. The MoFA/GTZ Integrated Crop Protection Project can be contacted at P.O.Box 9698 K.I.A., Accra, Ghana, email icpacc@ghana.com

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 59, March 2003, page 14]