MITIGATING MEASURES FOR FALL ARMYWORMS

By HAPPY MULOLANI

“PREVIOUSLY, my maize fields used to be affected by Fall Army Worms resulting in low maize yields,” said Nyambe Mweene, a small-scale farmer in Mungule village in Lwimba agricultural camp in Chongwe district.

Mr Mweene shared his experiences that despite cultivating maize and beans on a relatively higher scale, the prevalence of Fall Armyworms in his field became worrisome given that a bigger part of his hectarge was getting affected and recording crop losses.

He revealed that he depended on purchasing pesticides to spray his field but the cost implications were too high as he had other family obligations.

This gloomy picture began to change when he was selected to be among one of the farmers to participate in on-farm trials on the use of low cost farming methods that supports agro-ecological approaches to pest management.

“In 2019, which was the first year of the project when I was selected as one of the 12 farmers to do trials in Lwimba agricultural camp, I intercropped maize with beans and managed to harvest 15 bags by 50kilogrammes in one lima which was better than preceding years when I would only harvest 10bags,” disclosed Mr Mweene.

Despite the dry spells encountered in 2020, the harvest increased to 20 bags by 50kilogramme in one lima. This, Mr Mweene says is a positive stride in his maize fields as compared to past years when he relied on spraying against Fall Armyworms. While this year, with the good rains experienced so far, he expects to harvest 25 bags by 50kilogramme in one lima, which is a significant gain in his crop production.

Another beneficiary farmer, Cephas Mvula of Kanakantapa explains that, as one of the farmers participating in on-farm trials of maize and beans, he has learnt that intercropping and mulching is a better approach than using pesticides, as most pesticides are destructive and costly.

Mr Mvula explained that it was very useful to learn the best possible ways of mitigating Fall Armyworms through the use of natural economy with low cost, as it improves productivity and livelihoods.  

Kanakantapa Resettlement Scheme, Extension Officer, Fridah Kasamika explained that farmers have learnt practices such as conservation agriculture tillage, with some selected cowpeas and maize, maize and selected legumes.

Ms Kasamika says in her camp, 12 farmers were selected to participate in on-farm trials. So far, farmers have been using these demonstrations plots to learn and share experiences on the approaches to fight Fall Armyworms and improve their yields.  

These trials are supported by a five year project, which is a partnership between the World Agroforestry-(ICRAF) and the Ministry of Agriculture through its research department, the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute at Mount Makulu. It seeks to alleviate the impact of Fall Army Worm on smallholder farms through the use of low-cost pest control strategies based on ecological approaches. The project is also supported by other partners such as NORAD.

The project through its experts, encourages farmers to avoid using a variety of pesticides in their fields because they are not only toxic but dangerous to use. Instead, promoting agro ecological approaches to offer alternative solutions which is “cheaper, safer and better for the environment.” Some of the Agro-ecological approaches to pest management such as conservation farming which focuses on promoting practices such as crop rotation, minimum tillage, mulching and composting. Others include intercropping, diversifying crop types in order to protect natural habitats and enhance biodiversity in farmers’ fields. And the identification of specific interventions which encourage natural enemies such ass “providing nest sites for predatory insects.”

Since inception, the project has witnessed farmers’ yields slowly but surely improve through the application of ecological approaches meant to mitigate Fall Armyworms and boost maize yields.

Senior Researcher at the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute, Gilson Chipabika explains that trials are being conducted on how to mitigate Fall armyworms. The researchers collect data on infestation rates, damage and yields to examine the cost effectiveness.

Mr Chipabika said that during the research, farmers will gain knowledge on Fall Armyworm and its natural enemies.

He says that the project targets to make pesticides redundant and use nature to address the impact of pests through the use of Agro ecological approaches such as inter crop, mulching and crop residue among others which are cheaper, safer and better for the environment.

 

According to ICRAF Project Lead Investigator, Rhett Harrison, “The target is to make chemical pesticides redundant and the use nature to do the work us.”

Professor Harrison further discloses that most pesticides are highly toxic and dangerous to use. Agro-ecological approaches offers alternative solutions, which is rather cheaper, safer and better for the environment.

He emphasizes the need for government to ensure farmers are offered with solutions which are long-term. Other than, natural solutions, if they are to use pesticides its better for them to utilise biological and botanical pesticides which are safer though costly for many small-scale farmers. What is required is to offer subsidies to lower the cost of pesticides.

The project is working with 180 small-scale farmers in Zambia and Malawi and is conducting on-farm trials. At inception of the trials, farmers were supplied with inputs which includes maize, soyabean, cowpea, groundnut and common bean seeds. To effectively manage these trials, technical support is being offered to the farmers by researchers.

Deputy Director at Zambia Agriculture Research Institute, Ivor Mukuka observes that the effective utilization of technology is feasible as can be seen from research findings of the trials located in various farmers catchment areas.

Mr Mukuka emphasized that farmers need to really use technology to help them improve their yields and food security.

“From the research findings, appropriate information will be packaged and shared with the farmers. This information is meant to assist farmers improve their productivity and production as it is in line with the mandate of the government and its partner ICRAF,” stressed Mr Mukuka.

It is expected the knowledge generated from these research findings will be useful in developing national pest control strategies across Southern African countries. Such an approach is endeavours to boost productivity, production and incomes of small-scale farmers.