Caution: Adequate rainfall or irrigation to
ecosystems, allowing farmers to make
produce a crop, sufficient technical supervision,
informed decisions on pest management.
organized farmers or groups, well planned
Growing a healthy crop, regular observations
marketing of the seed produced.
and conserving biological control are the cornerstones of IPM. IPM allows farmers to
• Low cost mechanical conservation
reduce pesticide use. Overuse and misuse of
agriculture: A combination of no-tillage
pesticides can lead to disturbances in agro-
agriculture with fertilizer use, using permanent
ecosystems, exacerbating pest problems. A
planting stations and no herbicides. The planting
well documented case is rice, where overuse
can be done with a small hoe for opening the
of insecticides caused important outbreaks of
planting station, or with a hand jab-planter,
Brown Planthopper. Governments in Asia took
which has the additional advantage of metering
a range of measures to promote IPM, including
uniform fertilizer dose to each planting station.
removal of subsidies on pesticides, and farmer
The method is used in Lesotho, South Africa,
education programmes. IPM is used in
Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe and others. It
numerous countries in the different regions.
was the basis of the Zambia emergency
Pesticide subsidies are not recommended as a
rehabilitation programme and is also used in
measure to promote production.
similar programmes in Lesotho and Swaziland. Main effects: Main effects: The measure will over time improve
•
soil structure and reduce the hard work of digging and ploughing the fields; planting stations can be
relatively expensive pesticides). •
Reduced risks of pesticide induced pest outbreaks.
prepared before the onset of rains and in subsequent crops the work for planting is
More efficient production (reduced use of
•
Reduced hazard for environment and
significantly reduced; crop roots follow the root
public health due to reduced/minimized
channels of previous crops, improving water
pesticide use.
access from the second crop on; fertilizer efficiency is improved, yields normally increased (with fertilizer use) from the beginning.
Conditions for success: •
Conditions for success: The measure works best where competition for residues with
Adequate training for farmers and extension workers in IPM approaches;
•
Conducive policy framework to promote
livestock is not a serious problem (or can be
IPM including:
solved with community arrangements for
- Removal of perverse subsidies on
controlled grazing) and where sufficient moisture
pesticides;
is available to grow crops and covers throughout
- Promoting IPM research;
the year. Benefits increase if conservation
- Standards for pesticide residue levels can
agriculture is continued over time. Caution: The measure is not limited to simple input supply. It requires some technical training
provide incentives to implement IPM; - Improved regulation of the distribution of pesticides by input dealers.
and initial attention to weed management. Specific equipment is required. Crop rotations or diversified crop associations have to be used.
• Reduce post-harvest losses and promote longer shelf-life products
Also, marketing arrangements should be planned in advance at the time of providing
This is through the promotion of processing and
support to production to ensure that any surplus
value-addition in rural communities of primary
production will find its way to the market at
agricultural products - especially starch and
remunerative prices
protein-based products – into final (cooked or roasted) dried products which are ready-to-eat and
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM): IPM is based on a thorough understanding of agro36
thus marketable as instant foods with a long shelflife and of high quality and nutritional value. Gari