How to mitigate pest outbreaks in crop production

To mitigate the risk of pest outbreaks, farmers should fully understand the problems associated with growing crops and devise detailed crop management plans.

Agribank’s technical advisor for crops and poultry Hanks Saisai advised that several factors must be considered when growing crops, from the sowing of seeds through weeding, fertilising, harvesting and storage.

He said the first step to addressing the pest outbreak dilemma is to understand that organisms are crop specific.

“To this end, farmers are advised to avoid monoculture, which is the common practice of growing the same crop on the same piece of land each season or each year.”

According to Saisai, crop rotation is highly recommended to break the lifecycle of pests.

He explained that when farmers avoid planting maize on the same piece of land every season or year, pests like the fall armyworm, which typically target maize, struggle to survive due to the absence of their primary food source.



Eradicate potential

Saisai emphasised the importance of field scouting and implementing a spraying programme to prevent potential pest outbreaks.

“When growing a crop such as maize, it is essential for a farmer to implement a scouting programme that allows maize crops to be checked for the possible development of diseases or pests.”

Scouting should be conducted daily or at least weekly to allow farmers to detect problems early on and address them before crop losses or failures are experienced. Saisai said that scouting goes hand in hand with a simple spraying programme that is aimed at eradicating even the presence of pests’ eggs.

Selective pesticides such as spinosyns, emamectin or chlorantraniliprole have the potential to provide effective control if used correctly.

Additionally, one can apply Acelepryn, a systemic insecticide that quickly controls existing outbreaks and prevents future ones.



Rapid outbreaks

The third step is to be aware that after a drought year, conditions often become favourable for microorganisms to reproduce rapidly. This requires farmers to prepare adequately before planting crops.

“Farmers must always incorporate fumigants that destroy the eggs of pests that may be present in the soil before they have a warm and moist environment that will enable them to hatch and become a major headache for farmers," Saisai advised.



Report outbreaks

Additionally, farmers can report any suspected pest outbreaks to their respective agricultural development centres that will notify the agriculture ministry’s plant health subdivision to respond accordingly or advise on measures that can be implemented to mitigate a crop failure crisis due to pest outbreaks.

Lastly, Saisai noted that farmers must keep records to highlight pests encountered, the damages caused, the targeted crops and mitigation measures.

“In a nutshell, it is essential for a farmer to be prepared and take the necessary precautions to avoid losses or crop failure.”