Integrated pest management in vegetable production: a guide for extension workers in West Africa

Indigenous and exotic vegetables are central to most nutrition, food security and poverty reduction programmes around the world. However, in most of West Africa, the economic opportunities offered by vegetables are often undermined by production and trade constraints (i.e. pest damage, inappropriate pesticide usage, absence of environmental safeguard policies and/or stringent food safety standards). Extension workers and, in places, farmers groups and local community organizations, are working towards helping farmers to increase their yields in sustainable ways that create wealth and reduce the risks to productivity. All too often, extension workers do not know the cause of common pest problems in the crops they work with. Pest problems usually arise when the biological, ecological and sociological processes which underpin agriculture are disrupted. This guide helps to fill that information gap. It is one of many responses by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) which enables such workers to develop and use technologies. It focuses on accurate identification and better understanding of biodiversity in the development and application of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) options against vegetable pests. IPM is a knowledge-intensive approach to enhance profitability of agricultural systems, while minimizing threats to human health and the environment. The technical knowledge and skills in this guide can be used to look for, develop and apply effective vegetable IPM options. The IPM options outlined here are in harmony with the environment, sustainable, simple to apply, and cheap to maintain. The guide addresses IITA’s strategic aim of increasing the quality and usefulness of IPM research in support of reducing food security and poverty. It draws heavily on IITA’s experiences in Africa, with a particular emphasis on vegetable agroecosystems in Benin. Given the substantial economic costs of pest infestations in vegetable agroecosystems, the use of this guide in Africa is expected to improve incomes and overall agricultural productivity in the long-term. Peter Hartmann Director General International Institute of Tropical Agriculture March 2010 ForewordThis guide has been produced by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (INRAB), Cotonou, Benin, with support from the CGIAR Systemwide Program on Integrated Pest Management (SP-IPM), to improve the quality and usefulness of pest management research. This publication was part funded by the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)