Knowledge of vegetable insect pests, diseases and control measures in Morogoro and Iringa regions in Tanzania: a call for integrated pest management
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Academic Journals
Abstract
This study investigates vegetable growers’ knowledge about insect pests, diseases and control
methods. The study adopted cross-sectional research design, employing survey method and involving
400 randomly selected vegetable growers. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used
to summarize raw data. Colored cards of important pests coupled with field visits were used for pest
identification. The results show that 87.1% of the tomato growers reported tomato leaf miner (Tuta
absoluta) as one of the important insect pests. Cucurbit growers reported mainly cucumber beetle
(Diabrotica undecimpunctata) and cucumber moth (Diaphania indica). Cabbage and onion growers
reported cabbage aphids (Brevicoryne brassicae) and onion thrips (Thrips tabaci), respectively.
Diseases reported were mainly early (Alternaria solani) and late (Phytophthora infestans) blights in
tomato and onion respectively, purple blotch in onion, cucumber blight in cucurbits and cabbage blight
in cabbages. Insect pest and diseases control was mainly through synthetic pesticides. Frequency of
spray was highest in tomato and cucurbits followed by onion. However, the knowledge on tank mixing,
record keeping and Integrated Pest Management was limited. It is critical to have a common
understanding about insect pests, diseases and control methods that are environmental friendly.
Therefore, farmers should be trained on different issues regarding vegetable production and safe use of
pesticides. The key training areas should include tank mixing, pest identification and thresholds, and
record keeping.
Description
African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 17(12), pp. 1505-1516
Keywords
Control methods, Diseases, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Vegetable pests