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PEST CONTROL
Cultural methods These are methods which do not use chemicals to control pests Involves crop rotation, handpicking, early planting etc
Early planting Leaf hoppers which carry streak viruses stay in the grass in damp ditches during rain season. They immigrate to the crops during the rain season. If the maize, for instance has been planted very early it is big enough to resist damage by the time the hoppers move from ditches to crops
Weed removal Removing weeds deprive many pest of hiding or breeding places from which they emerge to attack crops. Weeds too, compete for nutrients with the crops and hinder them from growing healthy enough to resist diseases.
Crop rotation Some crops are susceptible to attack by certain pests which may remain dormant in the soil after harvest If the next crop is of the same family as the previous one the pest will be able to attack it and will die, enabling the original crop to be planted without attack the following year
Burning or burying residue
Famers may burn or bury crop remains after harvest eg maize, cotton etc This kills maize stalks borers which would otherwise be dormant during the dry season
Cultural control of cotton pests
One of the main pest to cotton is diparopsis, which is able to survive from season to the next, with pupal stage living in the soil. Using crop rotation a farmer can follow the cotton harvest by growing a crop, like maize which is not attacked by diparopsis and is not a food source for the pest The pest will therefore find another cotton field or it will die out Another useful cultural control for cotton is close season In this method, after harvesting, nothing is sown on the cotton field for at least two months This deprives the insect of food and hence they die leaving the soil pest free for the next cotton crop
Cotton farmers sometimes uproot individual plants after harvesting and bury or burn them At times the stalks are slashed before being buried by ploughing Cultural control of tobacco pests Tobacco leaves are often attacked by tobacco blight Numerous, small, whitish spots with dark margins on the leaves indicate tobacco blight Leaves may turn yellow and drop in large numbers starting at the base of the plant Tobacco blight is caused by fungi To control this disease, the plant debris is burnt soon after harvest
Biological Control Is the release of natural enemies of the pest to prey on and control the pest eg Predatory mite against red spider Ladybirds against aphids Wasp parasites against scale nematodes control insects
Advantages the species that controls the pest are natural control methods.
Disadvantages The introduction of species to control pests can go wrong and cause more damage to the environment and other crops.
Chemical Control Involves using pesticides that destroy or repel pests and kill organisms that cause disease. These include pesticides, fungicides, insecticides and herbicides.
Advantages Act fast and are specific and can be controlled when used correctly.
Disadvantages Expensive Kill or damage other animals May stay in the soil for long periods in the food chain Higher and higher doses needed as pests become resistant
Optimization and Evaluation of Efficiency of A Herbal Shampoo Containing Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis Leaves Extract and Treatment of Alopecia Areata Disease
