IAPPS NEWSLETTER

Number XI      November, 2008

INTEGRATED PRODUCTION AND PEST MANAGEMENT IN BURKINA FASO: CASE OF VEGETABLES.

The sub-regional Integrated Production and Pest Management (IPPM) program through Farmer's Field Schools (FFS) includes Bénin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Sénégal. It was launched in 2001 to address plant production and pest management issues on rice, cotton-based cropping systems and vegetables. It is funded by the Dutch government and implemented by FAO.

A season-long training of facilitators (ToF) was run from November 2007 to March 2008 in Bagré, Eastern Burkina Faso. The 36 participants were Agricultural technicians coming from 13 regions of the country. The curriculum of the training included crop management, special topics, insect zoo, plant compensation studies, group dynamics, non formal education etc. Some of the conducted studies during the training compared IPPM and Farmer's Practices. Cabbage, eggplant, tomato and onion were the main crops studied. Simple and sustainable technologies (organic manure, botanical extracts, natural enemies conservation etc.) were promoted through the IPPM plots while Farmer's Practices (FP) were based on agrochemicals and chemical fertilizers. Some of the results of these studies are presented here.

The populations of insect pests associated with the studied crops were monitored weekly starting from 71 days after sowing. Major insect pests included aphids, caterpillars and locusts. The infestations of the studied crops was higher during the first half (from to 71 to 85 days after sowing) of the observations series than the second half (figure 1). Tomato was the most infested crop while onion was the least infested one. Tomato benefited from the association with onion with regard to the infestation of white fly.

Most natural enemies found were spiders, coccinellid beetles and parasitoids. An important increase in the populations of natural enemies was observed on tomato during the last half of the observations series but the most interesting trend was observed when tomato was associated with onion.

The average yield in IPPM was always higher than that in FP regardless of the crop. In this regard, the highest ratio was observed with cabbage (3.33:1). The results with eggplant and onion were also interesting. These ratios were higher with the average net margins and cabbage was the most profitable crop (5.08:1). This crop was followed by onion (3.43:1) and eggplant (2.58:1). The least profitable crop was tomato (1.69:1). For more information, please contact:

Dr. Souleymane Nacro
National IPPM Technical Coordinator
Ouagadouguo, Burkina Faso
Email: snacro2006@yahoo.fr

NEW BOOK: PHILIPPINE RATS - ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

This new book features our current knowledge of the Philippine rodents, their ecology, systematics, diseases, and management. It covers a wide array of topics from the historical perspective of the development of rodent pest management from 1968 to 1988, to biology and management in complex agroecosystems, to ecology of pest and native rodent species, and to their impact on farming communities.

It comes with two auto-run CD-ROMs: the electronic simple identification keys to differentiate quickly the pest and non-pest rodent species in rice and non-rice habitats in the Philippines; and the comprehensive bibliography and database on Philippine rodents, which is searchable by keywords.

Dr. Grant R. Singleton, coordinator of the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium at the International Rice Research Institute, Dr. Ravindra C. Joshi, chief science research specialist of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and Dr. Leocadio S. Sebastian, outgoing PhilRice executive director teamed up to produce this 200-page book.

For more information, please contact:

Dr. R. C. Joshi, FRES (Lon.)
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice)
Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija 3119
Philippines
Email:,rcjoshi@philrice.gov.ph
Web: www.philrice.gov.ph

The IAPPS Newsletter is published by the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences and distributed in Crop Protection to members and other subscribers. Crop Protection, published by Elsevier, is the Official Journal of IAPPS. IAPPS Mission: to provide a global forum for the purpose of identifying, evaluating, integrating, and promoting plant protection concepts, technologies, and policies that are economically, environmentally, and socially acceptable. It seeks to provide a global umbrella for the plant protection sciences to facilitate and promote the application of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to a the world's crop and forest ecosystems. Membership Information: IAPPS has four classes of membership (individual, affiliate, associate, and corporate) which are described here. The IAPPS Newsletter welcomes news, letters, and other items of interest from individuals and organizations. Address correspondence and information to: Dr. Manuele Tamo, Editor IAPPS Newsletter Biological Control Center for Africa, IITA-Benin 08 B.P. 0932 Tri Postal, Cotonou, Republic of Benin E-mail: m.tamo@cgiar.org