By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Farmers in Kenya are experimenting with the “push-pull” method to deal with insect pests without having to use costly and polluting pesticides.
The technology involves intercropping food plants with insect-repelling legumes to push the bugs away, and ringing the plots with plants that attract, or pull, them even farther out.
Working with 642 farmers from 56 villages in eight counties, researchers found that farmers who applied the push-pull method nearly doubled their yields over those of their neighbors.
While adoption of push-pull farming remains low, in part because of higher labor costs, proponents say it offers a win-win for farmers through higher yields and avoidance of chemical pesticides.
Claire Nasike, from Greenpeace Africa’s Food for Life campaign said the technology is an innovation that involves intercropping cereal crops with insect-repelling legumes of the Desmodium genus, and then planting attractive forage plants such as napier grass as a border to the crop.
The intercrop emits a blend of compounds that repel, or “push” away, the pests, while the border plants emit semiochemicals that are attractive to the pests, or “pull” them toward the border, Nasike said.
“The push and pull technology does not harm soil and water sources, which are critical agricultural components,” she said.
“It is an ecological farming method that combines modern science and innovation with respect for nature and biodiversity.”
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