Anastacia Ngarama, a Kenyan mixed agriculturist, says safety guidelines such as  Integrated Pest Management will ensure sustainable pest control management. IPM is a sustainable approach that combines different methods to manage pests while minimising risks to health and the environment.

Ms Ngarama said this in an interview in Naivasha, Kenya, on Saturday.

As part of activities to mark its World Congress Week, the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists visited her 12-acre farm for firsthand information on the implementation of the Sustainable Pesticide Management Framework in Kenya.

According to Ms Ngarama, she ensures that crops are grown safely by using adequate manure for planting, applying pest management methods, carrying out mulching, and weeding. A tour of the farm showed that Ngamara combines various local innovations of IPM in her farm.

She operates both livestock and crop production units, serving local and export markets. Some of the innovations used were banner crops for repelling pests, a yellow stick trap for monitoring them, mass trapping to identify pests, and sealing thresholds.

She also uses physical barriers, such as nets to eliminate pests, as well as double doors, mating disruption, and pheromones for controlling moths, among others.

Ms Ngamara said she used pesticides safely during dry seasons by engaging the spray service providers for disease identification and strictly following instructions on labels and rules.

Eric Kimunguyi, Crop Life CEO, Kenya, stated that local innovations employed by the farm owner contributed to the sustainable management framework.

“The use of pest control in this farm is highly reduced because we have other measures that control the pest. Use of pesticide is the last resort, and that’s our philosophy regarding pest management,” he said.

He said the farmer used manure to improve the soil condition and irrigated the fields. He stated that the farm implemented sustainability in pest management by choosing and using methods. According to him, the methods can either be biological control or physical control, such as the use of nets, among other approaches.

“So far, we are convinced that the farm gives a good indication of how a sustainable pest management strategy should look,’’ he said.

Fredrick Muchiri, CEO of the Kenya Pest Control Product Board, said the firm was considering the registration of active ingredients with different modes of action.

“In our registration system, we are prone to resurgence of new pests such as the fall armyworm, which was not of Kenyan origin and is hampering grain production,” he said.

(NAN)