Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.
Pesticides are expensive and often hazardous to human health and the environment. In developing countries, farmers sometimes apply toxic chemicals without protective equipment, causing related health problems. And sometimes pests become resistant to pesticides, leading to increased—and less and less useful—pesticide applications.
To address these problems, the Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM CRSP), supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by Virginia Tech’s Office of International Research, Education, and Development (OIRED), works with farmers and universities to reduce the damage caused by pests without harming people or the planet.
One of eight collaborative research support programs set up by USAID, IPM CRSP supports research and education in 33 countries to spread adoption of the alternative agricultural approach Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
IPM includes a variety of methods to reduce chemical inputs, such as planting pest-resistant crop varieties, waiting to plant for several months during “no-host periods” to reduce opportunities for pests to reproduce, and using organic controls, such as insects that eat pests. When absolutely necessary, temporary and low-toxic pesticides are used by farmers.
Supported by the IPM CRSP program, researchers from the U.S. partner with local scientists, universities, and farmers to transfer knowledge and skills about IPM. In Kampala, Uganda, for example, IPM CRSP worked with local scientists from Makerere University to show tomato growers how to use techniques that reduced pesticide use by 75 percent.
Tomatoes are Uganda’s top high-value cash crop grown for local and regional consumption, and the country’s farmers more commonly use pesticides with tomatoes than any other crop. By learning about local techniques and problems from local farmers, IPM CRSP researchers found that two pests were the key problems for tomato growers: onion thrips, an insect that feeds on tomato leaves, and late blight, a fungus that also led to the Irish Potato Famine of 1845.
The project’s researchers showed Ugandan farmers that IPM methods were “better, safer, and cheaper” than applying pesticides by conducting farmer field experiments and field research to find easy-to-apply tactics.
To monitor the thrips population and more effectively target pesticide application, farmers were shown how to use yellow sticky traps. IPM CRSP also helped farmers control late blight by providing them with resistant tomato varieties and showing them tactics of trellising and staking to keep tomatoes off the ground, helping reduce moist places for the fungus to grow.
Now, the farmers not only use fewer chemicals on their crops, but they also spend 73 percent less on pesticides and earn up to 200 percent more per year because of their higher yields. And now that they have the skills to maintain such practices, they will continue to see these changes enhance their livelihoods and ecosystems.
To learn more about IPM and reducing chemical inputs in agriculture, see: Innovation of the week: Handling Pests with Care Instead of Chemicals, Tiny Bugs to Solve Big Pest Problem, Nourishing the Planet TV: Handling Pests with Care Instead of Chemicals, and Innovation of the Week: For Pest Control, Following Nature’s Lead.
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