VAG 3202 Crop Protection-Part 1 of 3 - Pests - Nov-2022

VAG 3202: Crop Protection, 2022
VAG 3202: Crop Protection

Instructor: Venansio Tumuhaise, 0782844673/0704044855
Email: [email protected]
Course Description and Objectives
This course covers aspects of crop protection. It includes plant pests and their management, plant
diseases and their management and weeds and their control. It also includes elements of invasive alien
species and their management: The course of objectives include:
1. Characterise the origin and development of pests, diseases, weeds and invasive species in
crops
2. Critically asses pests, diseases and invasive species
3. Explain the environmental implications of crop protection methodologies
4. Apply appropriate control measures of different pests, diseases, weeds and invasive species
Reference books.
1. Reddy, P.P 2012. Recent advances in crop protection, Springer India

2. Jeschke, P., Kramer, W., Schirmer, U; Witschel, M. 2013. Modern methods in Crop protection
Research, John Wiley and Sons
3. Burton, E.N & Williams P.V 2008. Crop protection research advances, Nova science
publishers
4. Monaco, T.J., Weller, S.C. Ashton, T.M 2002. Weed science: principles and practices, John
Wiley and sons
5. Carlie, W.R., Coules, A.,2012. Control of crop diseases, Cambridge University Press
6. Agrios, G.N. 1988. Plant pathology, Third edition, Academic press
7. Hill, D.S, and Walter, J.M., 1998. Pest and diseases of tropical crops, Volume 2. Field
handbook, Longman Group Uk ltd
8. Dube, H,C., & Bilgrami, K.S. 1982. A text book of modern pathology, Vikas publishing
House, New Delhi, Calcuta
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PART 1: CROP PESTS
Definition of a pest
• Pest organisms are species which can develop such large populations that they cause economic
loss to crops or nuisance and health hazards to man and his livestock.
• Pest outbreaks (or plagues) are situations where pest organisms become too numerous.
• It is a loose concept, as an organism can be a pest in one setting but beneficial, domesticated or
acceptable in another.
• Pest include insects, nematodes, mites, snails etc and vertebrates like rats, monkeys, birds etc
• crop losses due to pests: Insects (26%), Diseases (26%), weeds (33%) rodents and others
(15%).
Classification of insect based on economic importance
INSECT
economically economically not

important important
Injurious Beneficial Helpful

• pest of crops and plants • Productive insects • predators
(agricultural, forest and (honey bees, • Parasitoids
storage entomology) silkworm) • Pollinators
• Pests of human being • Insects as food • Weed killers
(medical entomology) • Insects as medicines • scavengers
• pests of animals (veterinary • Insects for scientific
entomology) research
• Insects for aesthetic
value
.
The pest status of an insect species may be determined by number of ways such as:
• Increase in the number of insects
• Change in the type of damage inflicted on the crop
• Change in the method of cultivation
• fluctuation in the market value of crop etc
Causes of pest outbreaks

Large, sporadic populations of insect pests are usually called outbreaks. They typically occur when
the pest population rises significantly above its general equilibrium position (GEP) and becomes a
threat to human interests or endeavors. The following are common scenarios/factors that lead to these
pest outbreaks:
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a) Natural causes
• Migration
• Climatic/environmental change
b) Man-induced causes
• Habitat alteration
• Pesticide side effects (development of resistance; destruction of natural enemies)
• Poor cultural practices
• Monoculture
• Continuous cropping
• Introduction from abroad
Classification of pests
Plants pests are classified according:
Host range: Plant pests can be classed according to how many hosts they have
as: monophagous, oligophagous, and polyphagous .
Feeding type: whether biting and chewing; piercing and sucking; or lapping and chewing, rasping and
sucking, etc.
Feeding location: leaves, flowers, stem roots
Population presence: key pests, occasional pests, and potential pests.
Occasional pests: have a general equilibrium position (GEP) (a position over which insect
population tends to oscillate due to biotic and abiotic factors) that is significantly below the EIL,
but they can develop population peaks that exceed the EIL. These peaks are sporadic and are
driven by favorable environmental factors and host susceptibility. Reduction of the pest
population is the management strategy most often used. Management of occasional pests requires
routine scouting of crops to detect problem populations that may only be present every few years
or at various growth stages of the crop.
Seasonal pests: occurs during a particular season in a year
Sporadic pests: occurs in isolated localities during some period
Perennial pests have a GEP that is relatively close to the EIL and pest populations often, with
favorable conditions, exceed the EIL in most years.
Key/ Severe pests have a GEP that is constantly above the EIL. More severe and damaging pests.
As soon as a population of a severe pest is noticed, economic damage is usually occurring.
Reasons for the GEP being higher than the EIL include dense spatial populations of the pest, high
market value of the host crop, high (often lethal) injury by the pest, and other host-pest
interactions that are unacceptable in the cropping system.
Based on level infestation:
Epidemic pest: sudden outbreak of a pest in a severe form in a region at a particular time
Endemic pest: occurrence of the pest in a low level in few pockets, regularly and confined to a
particular area
Based on economic importance:
Non-economic pests: populations of insects never above EIL and no need for control
Sub-economic pests have a low general equilibrium position (GEP) and they do not exceed the EIL.
Their damage does not usually warrant action (no action tactic), but if other sub-economic pests are
present at the same time, action may need to be taken against the pests.
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Economic pests: the population of the pests is above EIL
Pest of medical importance

It is impossible to measure the full impact of insects and other arthropods on human health and
welfare. These organisms have the capacity to inflict injury, disease, discomfort, or distress. They
can be a direct cause of illness, pain, and suffering through bites and stings, infested wounds, or
allergic reactions. They feed on blood or body tissues and they may transmit deadly pathogens or
parasites. Economic losses associated with these pests are borne not only by the affected individuals
and their families, but also by human society in general. Losses include not only the direct costs of
medicine and health care, but also indirect costs resulting from stress, absenteeism, and reduced
productivity. These are costs that are not easy to measure in dollars and cents.
Biting insects:
• Diptera (mosquitoes, black flies, horse flies, deer flies, stable flies, sand flies, and various biting
midges)
• Hemiptera, (bed bugs, assassin bugs, water bugs)
• Thysanoptera (thrips)
• Phthiraptera (sucking lice)
• Siphonaptera (fleas)
• the class Arachnida (spiders, mites, and ticks).
Stinging insects: Ants, wasps, bees, and scorpions are the only arthropods that have a true stinger.
Some predatory and parasitic insects sting to kill or immobilize their prey, whereas most other species
sting only as a defensive behavior to kill or drive away potential predators.
Myiasis: Of all the arthropods, only the larvae of certain flies (Diptera) are adapted to invade and
consume the tissues of a vertebrate host. An infestation by any of these flies is known as myiasis.
Allergens and irritants: Skin and eye irritation, respiratory inflammation, and various types of chronic
allergies may also be caused by insects and related arthropods. An allergic reaction can be induced
by nearly any component of an insect's body, but hairs, scales, exuviae, and fecal products are the
most common culprits
Transmission on animal diseases (vectors): dipterans, true bugs etc
Agricultural importance (crops/plants)

Injury to living plant: It is probably no exaggeration to claim that every plant species on earth serves
as food for at least one species of insect. No parts of a plant are immune from attack: insect
herbivores chew the leaves, suck the sap, mine the cambium, gather the pollen, invade the buds,
destroy the flowers, and devour the fruit. Even plants that manufacture potent insecticides (such as the
nicotine in tobacco, pyrethrum in chrysanthemums, or rotenone in tropical legumes) have insect pests
that are especially adapted to feed on their tissues and detoxify their chemical defenses.
Damage to Stored Products and Structural Materials: Stored agricultural products such as seeds and
grains, cheese, cured meats, dried fruits, grain products (e.g. flour and corn meal), hay and other
forages, and even cured tobacco serve as food for a variety of beetles, moths, cockroaches, ants, and
silverfish. These insects inhabit grain bins, silos, elevators, warehouses, grocery stores, and home
pantries wherever food is stored. In addition to damage caused by feeding, these pests also accelerate
spoilage of agricultural commodities by introducing bacteria, fungi, and fecal matter.
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Insects as vectors of Plant Pathogens: Many insects that feed on plants also serve as vectors of plant
diseases. All major taxa of plant pathogens are spread by insects, including viruses, mycoplasmas,
bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and nematodes. Plant pathogens may be carried externally on a vector's feet,
mouthparts, or ovipositors.
Crop damage caused by insects

Insects damage to crop plants leads to crop damage and crop losses. Crop damage is classed in three
groups.
1. Direct damage – is the damage caused to the marketable crop product, directly by the insect.
This class of damage is found predominantly with biting-chewing insects an example of which
is fruit fly damage to fruit. Damage effects include:
Biting insects: These damage plants in a number of ways:
• may eat directly the plant tissue, reducing the assimilating tissue, leading to hindered
growth
• Insects that tunnel inside the stem may interrupt the flow of sap _ include stem borers
and shoot fly
• other insects may cause the ring back stem e.g white coffee borer which bores exteriorly
under the back and only the escape pores are seen.
• they may attack flowers and reduce seed production as is the maize tassel beetle.
• may remove stored from tubers and therefore affect the next season,s growth e.g potato
tuber moth larvae
• other may injure or destroy seeds e.g maize weevil (Stophilus sp), Coffee berry borer
e.t.c
Piercing and sucking insects: damage plants in the following ways:

• remove plant vigour due to excessive removal of plant sap
• damage floral organs and reduce seed production e.g Coffee lygus bugs
• inject toxins into the plant causing distortion and necrosis
• opens wounds on plant tissue which then acts as the entry point of pathogenic fungi and
bacteria
• They can also cause total death of crop plants where the whole plant succumbs to the pest
damage leading to reduction of profits or total loss. Example banana weevil Cosmopolites
sordidus, and burrowing nematode.
2. Indirect damage occurs to a marketable product which occurs as a secondary effect of insect
feeding. This occurs especially due to insects with sucking feeding habit. An example of this
type of damage is aphids sucking on plant sap decreasing crop yields potential. Damage
effects are:
• They make the crop difficult to harvest. This is because infected plants are
usually delayed maturing or crops are not mature at the same time.
• Insects cause contamination and loss of quality or may lower the grade and hence
losses on marketability
• There is transmission of disease organisms. This is done in two ways:
• Mechanical or passive transmission: Takes place during feeding i.e the insect
injects the disease-causing organisms into the crops. Sometimes the pathogens are
carried on the proboscis of insects or on the body.
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• Biological transmission: In here the insect acts as an intermediate host. The
viruses have a life cycle phase in the vector which can be completed before it
becomes effective to attack the plant. Diseases transmitted in this way include
tobacco mosaic and cassava mosaic.
3. Cosmetic damage occurs where the insect damage is caused to the marketable product, but
the damage is of a cosmetic nature, and thus a consumer issue. An example is that of citrus
scale damage where the citrus is marketable but the product is of lower fiscal value.
ASSESSMENT OF PESTS
Forecasting a pest involves he assessment of pest densities. Assessment of pest densities is done to:
1. study the biology of the pest e.g life cycles, migration behaviour
2. monitor the pest population in time and space
3. forecast outbreaks: To determine the pest density before a decision on control measures is
made. There is also need o monitor the changes in population of the pest after a control
measure.
Any good pest management decisions are those based on well determined thresholds and this will
depend on the relationship between the yield (y) and infestation (i). Yield decreases with infestation,
y= f(i).
Methods that can be used to determine pest densities include:

1. Direct counting of pest individuals on a plant or in the environment. It is usually difficult to
count absolute numbers and hence samples should always be taken e.g you may count aphids
per leaf, or number of ticks per ear etc.
2. Methods of sampling from a crop or animal:
a. You could pick up the leaves, wash sweep off the insects into the bowl from which
they are counted.
b. Sweep nets may be used on plants
c. Knock down spraying may be used e.g mosquitoes in room
d. May be handpicked e.g ticks on a cow
3. Methods of sampling in the environment
a) Use an attractant especially for butterflies and moth whose pheromones are known
commercially
b) Use water traps; are put in the field and pests drop in them when they are flying
c) Use suction traps e.g D. vac
d) Use sticky traps
e) Use pitfall traps
f) You may use man baits for hand picking –done foe tse tse flies
The process of sampling must however be replicable both in technique and duration. All these are
direct methods of assessing pest densities. There are many cases where the pest damages the crop and
then disappear. In such cases, the damage can be assessed by counting the number of wilted plants per
10 square metres. The value got is relative.
Damage to roots e.g by cabbage root fly…the damage of the pest could be related to the density of the
pests;
Stems: The density of stalk borers may be related to the degree of tunnelling observed after opening
the stems of affected plants.
Damaged stored grains: The density of the granary pest could be related to the number of damaged
grains e.g number damaged per 1000 grains. Whenever you are taking samples, you should always
take a large sample.
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Economic Threshold and Economic Injury Levels
Many people use the terms "damage" and "injury" interchangeably, but entomologists usually make
an important distinction between them.
• Injury is defined as the physical harm or destruction to a valued commodity caused by the
presence or activities of a pest (e.g., consuming leaves, tunnelling in wood, feeding on blood, etc.).
• Damage is the monetary value lost to the commodity because of injury by the pest (e.g., spoilage,
reduction in yield, loss of quality, etc.).
• Note that any level of pest infestation causes injury, but not all levels of injury cause damage
Economic injury level (EIL): The lowest pest population density that will cause economic damage
Economic threshold (ET): The pest population density at which control measures need to be applied
in order to prevent the pest population from reaching the economic injury level.
• The ET (also called action threshold) and EIL are therefore pest population densities; and the ET
is always lower than the EIL.
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PEST MANAGEMENT
Principles of pest management
1. The number of pests present.

Although not always a determining factor, the actual population of the pest in the field is a rough
estimation of the extent of damage they will cause. Given good conditions a big population of the pest
can cause untold damage eg. Army worms and Red locusts on cereals. There are however some pests
which have a small population but this population is very damaging to the crop . eg . It is
recommended that if there is an average population of more than one Antestia Bug (Antestiopsis spp)
in a coffee bush, spraying should be done
2. The stage of the pest which is most damaging.

Most pests have a chewing, piercing and sucking, or rasping and sucking mouth parts.
For those pests which have complete metamorphosis, i.e. go through the stages of egg- larva- pupa –
adult, the mouth parts also change, so that a larva may have a chewing mouth part while the adult may
have a mouth part adapted to some form of sucking e.g. butterflies and moths. The damaging stage in
this case is the larva the adult living harmlessly on nectar and other liquids. The number of larva
present in a field count is therefore the correct assessment of the extent of damage done to the crop.
The number of adults present is only useful in forecasting the pest attack in that they may lay eggs
which may hatch sometime in the future.
There are however certain pests which are damaging in both the larva and adult stages. These retain
the same (chewing) mouth part throughout e.g. Systates weevil. In this case the presence of both
stages is quite important in the estimation of the damage. For those pests that do not have complete
metamorphosis going through the nymph and then adult stages, their damage is progressive and the
damage can easily be assessed using the number present at any stage.
3. Rate of Reproduction.
This factor is a good indication of how soon the pest population will become a problem. Those pests
which have complete metamorphosis tend to have a slower rate of reproduction and therefore their
population takes longer to increase. As mentioned earlier it is not true to conclude that they are not
very damaging to the crops. In fact this small population in some pests’ species can be very disastrous.
On the other hand those pests that have a high reproductive rate, as in aphids, reproducing
parthenogenically or viviparously can attain very high population levels quite rapidly. Their damage is
therefore very eminent.
May be more relevant to the purposes of estimation of pest damage is the length of time taken from
one stage of development to the other (i.e. egg, to larva, larva to adult). Pests that take a longer time in
the harmful stage e.g. larva do more damage that those which damaging stage is short. E.g. Chaffer
grubs stay very long in the larva damaging stage.
4. Mobility of the pest

How fast the pest can move within the same plant or from one plant to the other is a useful guide in
estimating the extent of damage the pest can cause.
Sedentary pests e.g. scale, mealy bugs, mites etc can only cause damage locally and may not prove a
big threat where large areas are involved. Mobile pests e.g. desert locusts; armyworms etc can be very
destructive over large areas within a very limited time.
5. Presence of natural enemies.

Pests have enemies, most of which are also insects. When there is proper management and the number
of these natural enemies (predators and parasites) increases or is maintained at a high level, pest
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outbreak is kept checked. The number of these predators and parasites in an area is therefore a good
guide in estimating the damage likely to be caused by a particular pest.
6. Effect of climate and other environmental factors on the pest.

Some pests are favored by certain climate or environmental conditions and killed or checked by
another set of conditions e.g. aphids and mites become numerous when there is drought and die off
when there is heavy rainfall, Antestia bug (Antestiopsis sp.) will prefer busy coffee trees to pruned
ones etc. Some pests can diapause (ground resting stage) during unfavorable conditions and became
active when conditions become better.
The climatic conditions prevailing at the time or in the near future are therefore also an index in
assessing the extent of damage that pests can cause.
7. Part of the plant attacked

This is very important when the economic damage to the plant is the point in question. Pests that
damage the vital parts of the plant cause much more damage than those that feed on subsidiary parts.
In this case root eater, stem borers or girdlers are more important than leaf eaters because they can
destroy the whole plant where as leaves can be replaced. Similarly those who destroy flowers have a
devastating effect on seed and fruit formation. Depending therefore on how vital the part attacked is to
the plant or how economically important the part is to the farmer. A pest may be assessed as causing
more or less damage to the crop.
8. Presence of alternate hosts

Other than crops, pests can also live on other wild plants. These plants are known as alternate hosts
(NB. Alternate host is not always a wild plant). The presence of these alternate hosts sort of rations the
number of pests feeding on the crop at any one time. There is therefore correspondingly less damage
done on the crop plant where there are a number of alternate hosts growing nearby e.g. Cissus used in
Namulonge to control cotton lygus.
This factor explains, in part why pest outbreaks are more common where there is large scale farming
especially with monocultures. Alternate hosts may also harbor the pest when the host crop is not there.
They are therefore detrimental in that they carry over the pest e.g. a count on the number of spring
bollworm larva on wild shrub (Walteria indica) in April and May predicts the level of attack by the
bollworm on cotton in January and February.
9. Plant resistance/tolerance.
Within the same crop are certain varieties which are attacked by a pest and others which are not. The
latter is called a resistant variety. Some varieties are however, still able to give economic yields in
spite of attack by the pest. These are called tolerant varieties.
The extent to which a pest will damage a crop therefore is dependent on the natural defenses a crop
can give against the pest.
CONTROL OF PLANT PESTS

All pest control methods should be used in such a way that the crop losses are reduced and the
economy of the farmer is improved. It is therefore necessary to compare the increase in damage if no
control is carried out and the cost of the control. In general, all considerations made while estimating
the level of pest damage on a crop should be considered before any pest control intervention is
recommended.
In most text books you will find pest control methods considered under separate headings e.g. cultural
control, chemical control, mechanical control etc. This is only for the purpose of classifying the
various measures taken to control pests. It is also convenient for teaching about these methods. It
should however be appreciated that a number of these apparently different methods may be used at the
same time to control a single pest e.g. cultural and chemical control can be used at the same time to
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control one pest. This point must be kept in mind as the different control methods one discussed
below.
Prevention of pest damage in stores.

1. Construct storage places so that they are well raised from the ground. This guards against
water from down seeping into the store. If coupled with the construction of rodent proof structures,
rodents may find it difficult to enter the store.
2. The store should be swept very clean before a new crop is stored. Do not mix old stock that
may have been infested with new stock. Store this separately.
3. The sweepings and grain residues from the store should be burnt some distance away from the
store or buried deep.
4. The store should not leak and a regular check should be made especially during the rainy
season. The multiplication of insect pests in stores is encouraged by damp conditions. In addition
fungal attack is encouraged by moisture.
5. Keep grass and other weeds round the store short to discourage rodents and pests climbing into
the store.
6. Harvest the crop at the right stage. Crops harvested too early or too late are more easily
destroyed than those harvested at the right time.
7. Dry your crop to the recommended moisture content and try to keep the moisture content
constant in the store. Well dried products are less attacked by storage pests.
8. Chemical control
The precaution seen above are very essential but they are not absolute. It is necessary to treat your
stored products and the store with chemical dusts. Chemicals used are:
(a) Red Triangle Dust (1% Lindane) 2% malathion)
To be used only on maize cobs and sorghum heads, and applied as they are being put in the store,
Rate – 100 gms / 2.7 cm. of cobs of 1% lindane

- 120 gms / 90 kg bag of cobs of 2% malathion.
(b) Blue cross Dust ( Lindane 0.1% Malathion 1%,

(Pyrethrum Dust 0.2%)
Rate : Malathion 1%
- 100 – 200 gms / 90 kg bag of shelled maize.
Lindane 0.1%
- 100 - 200 gms / 90 kg bag of maize
- 200 – 230 gms / 90 kg bag of beans, grains
Pyrethrum Dust 0.2%- (Quite expensive) 100 gms / 80 kg of grains.
In addition stores must be treated after cleaning but before the product is loaded into them with one of
the following:
2% malathion at 50 gms / 3 m2
1% Lindane “ “ “
5% DDT “ “ “
METHODS OF PEST CONTROL IN THE FIELD
(I) FORECASTING PEST OUTBREAKS

This is not strictly a method of pest control but it is a very useful tool in designing methods of control.
Forecasting is obtaining advanced information of the probable pest infestations. It is necessary so
that pest control methods are used to the best advantage. The cropping system may also be geared
towards a reduction of pest damage. The crop may, for example be planted so that its most susceptible
stage is passed before the pest population is high enough to cause appreciable damage.
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There are two main methods of forecasting.
(a) Short term pest forecasting
This is done over a short period of time, not normally exceeding a few weeks ahead and may involve
the following methods.
(i) Trapping pests and counting them.
(ii) Sampling pests within a field and carrying out field counts.
(iii) Rearing the pests in insectaries or emergence boxes to determine the dates of emergence.
(b) Long term forecasting
This is done over a long period of time sometimes taking months or even years. It also involves large
areas. Long term forecasting is obtained by:
(i) Studying the effect of weather on the population.
(ii) Using the present population density to predict population density in the future.
In determining pest population, it is necessary that counts are made even on alternate hosts e.g. it has
been found that attacks by the spiny bollworm (Earias spp) on cotton is Ukiriguru, Tanzania has a
close relationship to the bollworm population on a wild herb (Walteria indica)
In East Africa success has been made in the forecasting of the following pests.
(i) Red locusts (Nomadacris septemfasciatus)
It was found that the amount of rain in the last but one season is indirectly proportional to the locust
population, while the size of the proceeding parental population has a positive correlation to the
coming population.
(ii) Spiny bollworm (Earias spp)
In Tanzania the bollworm population on a wild shrub (Waltera spp) was found to be related to later
attacks on cotton. In fact the bollworm attack on cotton in April and May could be predicted by
assessing the bollworm larva population on Walteria indica in January.
(iii) Army worms (Spodoptera exempta)
Forecasting is based on catches of adults in light traps at different locations in East Africa. The
number caught is used to predict larva attack in the future.
Forecasting in itself is not accurate as a slight change in environmental conditions may completely
alter the results of the forecast. To be of any use, forecasting must relate to definite levels of attack
i.e. it should be able to say whether or not the population predicted is going to be harmful to the crop
and therefore needs early preparation for control. Before the results of forecasting can be arrived at
the following studies have to be made.
(a) Quantitative seasonal studies
This is done over a number of seasons to determine the seasonal range and variability in numbers,
over the seasons, and the geographical distribution.
(b) The pest life history to determine the length of life history, number of eggs laid, behavior of
different larval instars under different conditions, amount of food consumed, parasitic infections and
type of voltinism.
(c) Field studies to determine the effect of climate and other environmental conditions on the pest.
It would have been most useful if all major pests could be forecasted. However, the research involved,
and the complexity of factors affecting forecasting has still made this noble dream a difficult one to
realize.
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LEGAL CONTROL
It is lawful regulation of areas or commodities to eradicate, prevent, or control infestation or reduce
damage by pest.
The use of quarantines is used extensively in legal control to exclude potential pests, prevent further
spread of those already present and supplement eradication programmes. The primary objective of a
quarantine really is to protect the economy of the country and the general welfare of the people.
Since legal control is likely to interfere with trade, it is necessary that the following conditions are
fulfilled before a plant quarantine is imposed.
➢ The pest must offer actual or potential threat to large interest.
➢ No substitute action less disruptive to trade is available.
➢ The objective behind the imposition of the quarantine is reasonably possible to attain.
➢ The economic gains from legal control must outweigh the cost of administration and the
interference with normal trade activities.
In order to make plant quarantines effective and reasonable,

- the pest to be regulated must be specified,
- the area affected by the quarantine should also be specified,
- the articles subject to the regulations should be known and lastly,
- the basis under which pest carriers may be moved out of, or into the affected area must also be
specified.
Some of the problems of plant quarantine are:
- High speed of transportation and increased travel.
- Lack of information about potential pest in foreign countries with whom we trade.
- Incomplete knowledge of the biology of the pest.
In their native locations a potential pest may be of minor concern because of the presence of natural
enemies or because of weather conditions or agricultural methods in the area. However, when they are
accidentally introduced into a new area, considerable damage may result. Such pests are difficult to
handle in legal control because it is almost impossible to predict which minor pest in one district may
become major problems in another. The legal control programmes are of three types namely,
Eradication Containment and Suppression.
(a) Eradication:
This is a programme conducted for the purpose of eliminating the target organism from a particular
geographical area. It is usually applied against pests that have recently gained entry and are not yet
established over a large portion of their ecological range (i.e the range within which they can survive).
Because of the extreme difficulty of achieving pest control using this means, it is necessary that the
ecology of the pest is studied extensively before the programme of eradication is taken up. Large
sums of money have been wasted on this programme with very little success as a result of hurried
study of the pest ecology and physiology e.g. It was impossible to eradicate the screw worm
(Cochliomyia hominorora) a pest of cattle, from south Eastern U.S.A until the sterile male technique
was employed.
While proper methods of eradication are still being investigated it is necessary to use other means of
pest control to reduce pest damage on the crop. These means are often chemical. e.g. in Uganda,
Rogor E(dimethoate) and Chlorobenzilate were subsidized in an attempt to keep down the population
of the Green Cassava mite (Mononychellus tonajoa) when it first appeared in the early 1970.
Some newly introduced pests may be very difficult to eradicate. E.g. Programmes to eradicate the
spotted Alfafa Aphid (Thericaphis maculate) in the U.S.A has so far failed. Eradication programmes
may take a very long time and the techniques used may have to be changed as necessary.
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(b) Containment
These are measures designed against pests that have not yet reached full ecological limits. They are
conducted when it is not possible to eradicate the pest either because of the firm establishment of the
pest in the area or because eradication methods are not yet available.
In these programmes, no effort is made to reduce or eliminate the pest completely from the whole
area, a few pockets are however picked from the whole area and containment is concentrated in these
areas.
These areas of containment are mostly on the periphery of the infested area. In some cases, a whole
area (and not only pockets) may be treated for the pest while waiting for eradication methods from
research. Containment therefore prevents the spread of new or even established pests into fresh areas.
(c) Suppression
Suppression programmes are applied against some pests capable of periodic sudden out-breaks over
large areas so that control cannot be accomplished by individual effort. Often large international
bodies are involved in a suppression programme. E.g. the Desert Locust is suppressed by Anti-locust
Research Centre, a section of a large organization called The Centre for Overseas Pest Research
(C.O.P.R.) An organization of 13 countries found in Africa, Middle East and India.
Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have agreed to have a plant protection organization with headquarters
based in Muguga, Kenya. The quarantine station is operated by the East African Agriculture and
Forestry Research Organization (E.A.A.F.R.O). The agricultural Chief Research Officers of the three
sister states jointly head this organization. Within this organization, there is a body known as, the
East African standing Technical Committee on Plant Import and Export (E.A.S.T.C.P.I.E) which
ensures that diseases or infested plant materials are not brought into or taken out of the region.
When formulating the regulation, the committee takes into account the pest or diseases situation in
and out of the region. It is to comply, however, with the restrictions recommended by the Inter
African Phyto-sanitary Commission (I.A.P.S.C), which is a much bigger body organized under the
A.U. such regulations implemented have to be in the line with the major objectives of plant protection,
namely
i. To prevent the introduction of new plant pests and diseases into the region from foreign countries
without interfering unnecessarily with the member countries development and trade.
ii. To prevent the establishment of new plant pests and diseases which get into the region in spite of
the precautions taken.
iii. To control, to contain and to try to eradicate as far as possible the established plant pests and
diseases within the region.
At National level, the power to restrict exports and imports of plant materials is vested in the
Commissioner (or Director) for Agriculture. The Commission is advised by a Senior specialist
(normally the Senior Entomologist) who also controls and operated the plant protection service on
behalf of the commissioner.
PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL CONTROL

This is the reduction or prevention of pest damage by the use of specific physical and mechanical
measures.
These measures are aimed at controlling the pest and utilizes special equipment and operations which
would not have been performance had the pest not been there.
The methods are direct and will destroy pest outright, or disrupt normal physiological activities, or
modify the environment of the pest.
Physical and mechanical control is probably the oldest and most primitive method of pest control.
They require a lot of time and labour and in many cases; they are unsuitable on large scale.
The methods commonly grouped under physical and mechanical control are discussed below.
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(A) Hand picking and physical destruction of pest.
Hand picking was a certain time one of the standard recommendations of pest control e.g Antestia bug
(Antestiopsis spp) on coffee in Kenya. Later it was found that hand picking is not an effective method
of pest control as the more active members of the pest to be controlled are often not caught and
because of the decrease in population created, pest outbreaks are more likely.
Some success in hand picking can be achieved only if the pest fulfils the following conditions.
1. The pest is large and conspicuous enough to be easily picked.
2. The pest occurs in relatively restricted areas so that they are easy to find.
3. The pest is sluggish in movement.
(B) Construction of physical barriers to the pest

This is designed to prevent the pest from reaching the crop. It can be done by creating screens made
of cheese cloth or fine wire mesh round the plant to prevent pest entry, or trapping the pests using
light traps, sticky bands and trenches before they reach the crop. Such methods are of course very
expensive and can only be recommended for very highly valuable crops e.g. in orchards.
(C) Use of Extremes of Temperatures

Insects are “cold blooded” animals (Poikilothermic). Their body temperature is therefore dependent
on the environmental temperature. This also means that their body maintenance and activity also
depend on the temperature around them. There a few exceptions to this rule among the insects. E.g.
social insects where the community temperature is maintained and a few flying insect which perform
metabolic work to bring the flight muscles to perform effectively. But it is generally accepted that
insects will not tolerate extremes of temperature, (probably 2 – 3 on either side of the normal
surrounding temperature).
Insects are destroyed by extreme temperatures principally by denaturation of proteins within the body
of the insect. In addition, it is more probable that at these extreme temperature limits metabolic
activities within the insect become incoherent as a result of variations in reaction rates and
permeabilities. The insect endogenous control mechanisms (e.g. hormones), may not be able to
handle such developments and it is only a matter of time before everything goes into disarray. i.e.
The integration activity breaks down, toxic metabolites build up and energy requirements are no
longer satisfied. This results into an irreversible degeneration process, leading to death. The extent to
which these unfavorable activities happen depends on the insect and its previous experience with the
environment.
Heat
(i) Prolonged high temperatures are often used to control pests of stored products. They are also
used in horticulture to sterilize soil infested by nematodes and other soil pests. It has been found that
prolonged temperatures of 60o – 65o will kill most insects. Indeed, in practice temperatures between
520 – 55o prolonged for 3-4 hours will kill most insect pests. This temperature used in this way is
known as “Lethal Heat”.
(ii) Flaming
The use of flame, or burning infested crop residue to kill pest is a common practice in
controlling pests of cotton, sugarcane, millet, maize etc. To make it effective, the flame must move
fast enough to kill the pest otherwise pest may escape. There is also a possible damage to the
environment and destruction of organic matter but these side effects are not significant when the
control of a major pest in a major crop is considered.
Cold
Cold temperatures are effective on non hibernating pests. At moisture content of less than 12% most
insect pests are killed by temperatures as low as 4 – 10oc. Low temperatures can also reduce pest
activity and their multiplication. Low temperatures have a very limited use in pest control.
(D) Radiation
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This is the use of radiant energy to kill or prevent attack by pests. Radiation can also be used to
sterilize the pest so that reproduction is not possible. The three sections of electromagnetic waves
namely long, medium and short wave length can all be used in one way or the other to control pests.
(1) The long wave length (104 – 107 Angstrom)
The two usable wavelengths within this region are the radio waves and the infra-red, both of which are
short and can be transformed into the heat energy.
This heat energy kills the pest by differential heating i.e. the pest heats up faster than the stored
product) In this case the pest is killed while the product remains unaffected.
It is also possible to use these waves safely on stored products without altering the genetic make up of
the seed. E.g. the Pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossiypiella) was controlled without any damage to
the cotton seed. It is still, however necessary to conduct more experiments on the use of these waves
for pest control.
(2) Medium wave length (102 – 104 A)
These wavelengths fall within the range of visible ultraviolet light. Their harmful effects on insect
pests are very remote (They may sterilize or kill very small insects such as mosquitoes if issued in
flashes, but even then the insect must be near the source) their most practical use in pest control is
when light is used to attract these pests to some place where the pests are destroyed (i.e. light traps).
(3) Short wave length (10A and below) (Ionizing Radiation)
These are very short wave radiations in the form of X- rays or Gamma rays. These rays are capable of
acting on the cellular nucleus transforming it and in the case of pests, killing or sterilizing the pest.
Insects are found to be more resistant to gamma and x – rays than mammals. However, with careful
manipulation, these rays can be used to control pests of stored products at a faster rate than any other
method so far developed.
The use of short wave – length energy in pest control is limited to products that are not for seed. This
is because the radiation in addition to killing the pest also alters the genetic make up and sometimes
destroys the embryo of the seed.
A very promising use of the gamma and x – rays is found in the ability of these rays to sterilize
without killing the pest if well adjusted. The technique, (known as the sterile male technique) has
been used to sterilize males which are then released to compete, with the untreated group for mating
with fertile females. The idea is to reduce the population of the pest by interfering with mating and
hence the reproduction rates. The more of the males which are able to mate but unable to fertilize the
eggs of the females, released, the better is the success in controlling the pest.
The sterile male technique has already been successful in eradicating the Screw worm (Cochiliomyia
hominororax) a very important cattle pest from south Eastern U.S.A.
Experiments are still being tried, using the sterile male technique to eradicate some important
pests of crops and animals e.g. the Mediterranean fruit fly, some Lepidoptera pests and the Tsetse fly.
Generally, the use of radiation in controlling crop pests still needs a lot of investigation. At the
moment it is quite an expensive method of controlling pests and has limited use mainly on pests of
stored products. Further research may enable us to use radiation in the field conditions as well, not
only less expensively but also more safely.
(E) Dehydration
Arthropods are generally small in size. This means that they have a very high ratio of surface area to
volume. Because of this large surface area` they can easily be desiccated. Most arthropods develop a
waxy cuticle to reduce the rate of evaporation of water from the body. This is a protective mechanism
to the arthropod. If this waxy cuticle is removed, then the insect will die of dehydration. This is the
basis of pest control by dehydration.
At the moment some dusts, basically silica aero gels, are mixed up with the stored products. The dust
absorbs the cuticle of the insect and the pest dies. Other local examples include the mixing of some
stored products with ash or sand to preserve it from pest attack. The action is more or less the same.
Dehydration could be a very useful method of controlling pest especially in the store but, just like the
other methods, above, more research is necessary in this field.
(F) Use of sound
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This is a very recent development and most of the techniques involved are still under experimentation.
However, there are basic methods used namely:
(1) Producing sound of very high intensity and frequency for physical destruction of the pest.
(2) Use of loud noise to repel the pest e.g. birds that eat cereals can often be repelled or driven away
by beating empty tins round the field borders.
(3) Using recorded sounds produced by insects (or pests) or imitation of these to influence the
behaviour of the pest. This may either repel the pest or attract the pest to a place where it can be
destroyed.
As mentioned earlier this is a potential method of pest control, although, except for the control of
birds and to a lesser degree some rodents, very little success has yet been recorded. This, of course
does not mean that it cannot be useful in the future.
CULTURAL CONTROL
Is elimination or reduction of pest damage by manipulation of agricultural practices normally
applied in the growing of the crop. From a pest control perspective, the primary aims of cultural techniques
are: 1. to reduce colonization of a crop by a pest and/or to increase pest dispersal from that crop; and 2. to
reduce reproduction and/or survival of a pest in a crop once colonization has occurred. These aims can be
realized by either modifying the host (the crop) or by modifying the host environment.
Cultural techniques for arthropod pest control

Host modification Environmental modification
Manuring/Fertilising Crop rotations
Irrigation Clean cultivation
Host plant resistance Soil cultivation
Planting dates
Plant density
Trap crops
Abiotic environment
Intercropping
Natural enemy conservation (boosting NE
numbers)
Cultural control methods are usually:

➢ Preventive, in that they are applied much before the pest appears.
➢ Indirect, in that they are not applied directly onto the pest. Because of its nature therefore, it is
difficult for farmers to appreciate cultural control as a viable measure of pest control.
➢ Cheap, and may be the only economic way of controlling pests on crops of low economic
value.
The necessary requirements for the design of a good cultural control strategy are:
➢ A complete knowledge of the life cycle of the pest.
➢ A good knowledge of the habits and general ecology of the pest.
Practical methods of cultural control.

1. Sanitation
Sanitation is the removal of breeding, hiding and hibernation sites of the pest. Such removal may be in
the form of:
a. Utilization and or destruction of infested plant material including weeds. This helps to prevent
damage to the future crop. Total destruction of plant refuse may not be necessary. The plant refuse
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may be broken into small bits making it unsuitable for pests e.g. banana stems are split and broken
into bits to discourage the banana weevil (Consmopolites sordidus)
b. Digging up infested roots to expose the pest to desiccation and attack by predators. E.g Chaffer
grubs.
c. Collecting and destroying infested plant material e.g. stripping coffee trees of infested berries
against coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei)
d. Picking and destroying infested citrus fruit against the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata).
e. Destroying plants after harvesting the crop e.g. cotton stems are cut and burnt to control cotton
stainers (Dysdercus spp) and other cotton pest.
f. Time “Pasturing” of crop area. Here animals are allowed to feed on the remnants of plants
after harvesting e.g. cattle eat up maize stalk and may at the same time eat up maize stalk borers.
2. Tillage:
Insect pest are affected either directly or indirectly by conditions that prevail in the soil. E.g. soil PH,
aeration, texture, temperature, moisture etc. All these pests living inside the soil are affected directly
while those that live on the plant are affected through the effect of these factors on the plant. Tillage
changes the soil conditions and consequently the extent of damage a pest can do on the crop. To be
able to use tillage as a method of pest control, it is necessary to know the habits and the ecology of the
insect pest. Tillage must be timely if it is to be useful.
Tillage during the time when the crop is not growing will destroy volunteer crops, stubble and weeds
that may provide feed, breeding and hiding sites for pests. Soil cultivation may bring to the surface,
larva, pupa, eggs or adult stages of pests. These are killed by exposure to the sun or are eaten up by
predators.
Deep cultivation may burry the pest too deep in the soil and it is killed that way. Good tillage will
encourage vigorous growth by the plant. Such plants are able to yield well in spite of pest attacks.
Connected to tillage is the use of other special cultivation methods such as:
(i) Mulching
Mulching reduces water loss and improves soil conditions for plant growth. In addition, on coffee it
reduces attack by coffee thrips (Diarthrothrips coffeae). It also reduces attack by Antestia bugs
(Antestiopsis spp) by encouraging multiplication of the natural enemies. Combined with pruning and
manuring, mulching also reduces attack by the star scale (Asterolecanium coffeae) on coffee.
(ii) Flooding:
This is a very expensive practice and is not advisable to use it only for the purpose of controlling
pests. In rice fields where the practice is necessary in the growing of crop, flooding helps to kill a
number of pests which live in the soil or which have their resting stages in the soil, e.g. male cricket
(Gryllatalpa Africana), army worms (Spodoptera spp) and stalk borers.
3. Crop Rotation
The principle of good rotation is that a crop of one family is replaced by one from another family that
is not a host plant to the pest to be controlled.
The following conditions are necessary if crop rotation is going to be successful in controlling pests.
(i) The pest must be a restricted feeder (Monophagus or Oligophagus).
(ii) It should have fairly limited powers of migration.
(iii) The pest should be a slow breeder, spending a relatively long time in the feeding stage.
4. Use of Healthy planting materials

By ensuring that the materials we use as seed is not infested, we avoid introducing important pests
into the fields.
This is a precautionary measure which costs almost nothing but saves a lot of money and effort in the
end. Examples are:
- Clean sweet potato vines against sweet potato weevil (Cylas spp)
- Clean suckers against the Banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus)
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- Clean pineapple slips against pineapple mealybugs (Dysmicoccus brevipes).
- In Tomatoes egg plants, passion fruits, bananas against nematodes.
5. Timing and proper planting and harvesting.

When the time of planting is proper, pest damage may be reduced in the following ways.
➢ The egg laying period may be avoided.
➢ The plant may reach a resistant stage before the pest appears.
➢ The crop may mature before there is sufficiently a heavy build up of pest population to cause
heavy losses. e.g.
o Early planting of maize against the maize leaf hopper (Cicadulina mbila) and stalk borers.
o Early planting of groundnuts against the groundnut aphid (Aphis craccivora)
o Timely planting of beans against the leaf eating beetles (Coryna spp).
The use of recommended spacing mainly helps indirectly by promoting vigorous plant growth
allowing the crop to resist or tolerate pest attack. It may also help directly, as it does in Groundnuts
against G. nut Aphid (A. craccivora). Close spacing in groundnuts creates a humid micro-climate
which discourages attack by the groundnut aphid).
The procedure used in harvesting also controls pest attack. The crop harvested must be at the right
stage of harvesting. Crops harvested when under or over mature are more attacked by pest either in
the store or in the field.
Crop planted early are likely to be harvested when pest population is low and the starving effect on the
pest is more realized. This starving effect may be increased by using a “Closed season” i.e. a period
of time during the year when no one is allowed to grow a particular crop so as to starve and possibly
eliminate or reduce the effect of a particular pest on the coming crop. E.g. there is close season after
the harvest of cotton to control the pink bollworm. (Pectinophora gossypiella) Cotton stainers
(Dysdercus spp) and other cotton pests.
6. Use of Resistant varieties

Resistance of plants to pest attack may be defined as the relative amount of heritable qualities
possessed by the plant which influences the ultimate degree of damage done by the pest
Although plant resistance should be based only on heritable qualities, there are certain cases when
resistance is clearly not hereditary. This kind of resistance is known as Pseudo–resistance. Pseudo–
resistance may be of one of the following types:
➢ Host evasion
In this case the host has passed or has not yet reached the right stage of attack by the pest when the
pest attacks. Timely planting gives this king of Pseudo resistance.
➢ Induced resistance
This is done by improving the condition of plant growth or the environment so that the pest finds it
unsuitable for oviposition or food e.g. improved soil fertility has in certain cases decreased pest attack.
Reduction of water stress has been used in the control of mites. Pruning, proper spacing e.t.c have all
been used to control one pest or the other on crops.
➢ Escape
This is when a crop is not damaged, really, due to random circumstances such as incomplete
infestation.
Real resistance
Real resistance has been classified in a number of ways. One classification divides resistance into:
➢ Mechanical, i.e. the presence of plant structures e.g. hairiness, hardness, which discourages
pest attack.
➢ Physiological, i.e. the presence of chemicals within the plant that is detrimental to the pest, and
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➢ Ecological i.e. the growth habit of the plant creating an unfavorable microclimate for the pest.
The above kind of division is useful, but a more useful classification is that based on the mechanism
of resistance as seen in the field.
Hence the three basis of plant resistance are:
➢ Non - preference
This includes all characteristics within the plant that will deter a pest from using that plant for
oviposition, for food or for shelter.
These characteristics may be in the form of the colour, plant surface, chemical content and the
structure of the plant. All these may act jointly or singly to discourage or encourage pest attack.
➢ Antibiosis:
These are adverse effects on the pest life cycle which will result when a pest uses a resistant plant
variety for food.
The reproductive powers of the pest may be reduced or the length of its cycle made longer than usual.
Many of the pests may die or their individual sizes are reduced.
➢ Tolerance
A variety is resistant to pest attack by Tolerance when the pest actually attacks the plant. In spite of
this attack however, the plant can still grow and reproduce and to some extent repair injury caused and
brings economic returns to the farmer. Tolerant varieties are useful but their development is not
encouraged in breeding programmes because, while not being badly affected themselves, they help to
increase the reservoir for future pest attacks on varieties which may not have such mechanisms for
tolerance.
The most successful example of resistance used in pest control is the hairy cotton variety which is
resistant to cotton Jassids. (Empoasca ssp). The Jassids show non preference for oviposition on hairy
cotton. This has reduced the Jassid from a very important pest of cotton to a minor pest.
Other examples include:
Some sorghum varieties showing tolerance to the sorghum shoot fly (Antherigona varia) by tillering
profusely after attack by the shoot fly.
Some cotton varieties show non preference for oviposition by the American bollworm (Helicoverpa
armigera).
Many bean varieties show resistant to the bean fly (Melanagromyza phyaseoli) by producing prop
roots from the region just above the crown where the bean fly larva pupates. Onion varieties with
round leaves show resistance by non-preference to the onion thrips (Thrips tabaci).
All in whole, the use of varietals resistance in pest control is the most satisfactory principle to the
farmer. The farmer incurs no costs whatsoever. However, breeding programmes to develop these
varieties are often time consuming and expensive.
7. Use of Trap Crops

A trap crop is a crop planted usually in small quantities to attract insect pests and divert them away
from the principal crop. Such crops are often planted and destroyed before the pest is able to
complete its life cycle. They are more attractive to the pest than the main crop and are generally used
at the early stages of the crop especially when one wants to encourage the parasites of a particular
pest, and in that way, effect better biological control of the pest.
e.g. in Namulonge, Uganda, a herb, Cissus spp was grown in between the rows of cotton in an attempt
to divert (trap) Cotton lygus (Taylorilygus vosseleri) from the cotton crop.
Advantages of cultural control.

• It is a very effective method of pest control.
• It is cheap and in some cases of no cost at all to the farmer
• It has no side effects. It does not interfere with the environment.
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• It offers many opportunities for integration with other control measures.
Disadvantages
• There is need to apply the control measure long in advance of actual insect damage. This is
often not appealing to the farmer.
• They do not provide complete economic control of the pest. The measures have to be repeated
or maintained during the growing period of the crop.
• They are generally specific; one control method being directed towards one particular pest. The
broad spectrum effect achieved with chemical control for example, is not achieved with cultural
control.
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
Biological control is the reduction or prevention of pest damage by the use or encouragement of
natural enemies of the pest.
The natural enemies of the pest are normally predator, parasites, and pathogens. These will maintain
the population of the pest at a lower level than would be if they were absent. It is important to note
that Biological control only suppresses rather than eliminate the pest as such. The natural agents of
biological control are arthropods, nematode, vertebrates and diseases.
In order to be able to utilize biological control efficiently, it is necessary that the biology and the
ecology of both the enemy and the pest are well understood. There must be a correct identification of
both the agent and the host and lastly an adequate knowledge of the raring techniques of the agent is
most useful.
Parasitism and Predation

Both terms refer to symbiotic relationship by which one species obtains its energy requirements at the
expense of another species.
Parasites differ from predators as below:
Parasites Predators
1. Usually smaller than host 1. Usually larger than host
2. Has a longer association with the host 2. Association is often very short lived
3. Life cycle often shorter than that of 3. Life cycle often longer than that of the
the host host
4. Generally develops in only one host 4. May require several hosts
5. Specialized in nature e.g. living under 5. Less specialized in nature
low concentrations of oxygen etc.
Some important examples of parasites may be found among the orders:- Hymenoptera, Diptera while
predators mainly come from the orders: Hermptera, Nueroptera, Thysanoptera, Coleoptera and the
class Arachnida.
Below is a brief discussion of important members:
Parasitic Wasps (Order Hymenoptera)

The parasitic wasps are the most important single group of predators. They attack a very large
number of pests. They commonly lay their eggs in the egg, larva or adult stages of the pest. The pest
is destroyed as the parasite starts to feed and develop inside it.
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e.g.
- The Wasp Aphididus spp attacking aphids.
- Braconid wasps (Apanteles spp) attacking citrus swallowtail and other caterpillars.
- Anagyrus kivuensis parasitizing the Kenya mealybug and has been instrumental in controlling
this important pest of coffee in Kenya. Anagyrus was introduced from Uganda.
- Eretmoceros serius a wasp introduced from Malyesia into E. Africa has controlled the citrus
black fly (Aleurocanthus woglumi).
- Hoverflies (Fam. Syrphidae) (Order: Diptera)
Many species of Hoverflies have predatory larvae which feed on aphids and other insects
giving some degree of control to these pests.
- Tachnid flies (Fam. Tachnidae) Oder: Diptera)
These are endoparasites feeding on caterpillars (Lepidoptera) and the larger plant bugs
(Heteroptera) They either lay their eggs on the host, the egg hatches and the larva bores into the
host or the larva are deposited on the plant (viviparously) to wait for the host to come along; or the
egg is eaten by the host and it hatches inside the host. Notice that these flies unlike the wasps do
not have specialized organs for oviposition.
Predators:
Bugs (Oder Hemiptera)
- Lacebug predator (Stethoconus spp). Quite similar to the lacebug itself. This predator has been
effective in controlling the lacebug population especially where D.D.T and other persistent
organochloride pesticides are not used on coffee. The predator is easily killed by D.D.T, but
less affected by the less persistent chemicals applied on coffee.
- Assassin Bugs (Phonoctonus spp)
A number of species exist and each species resembles the species of cotton stainer it is a
predator of. Assassin bugs also attack other insects although the stainers seem to be preferred.
- A mirid (Deraecoris spp) is an important predator of Cotton lygus (Taylorilygus vosseleri).
Lacewings (order Neuroptera)

The larvae of the Neuropterans are predator on many insects, some, of no
agricultural importance. The lacewings (Chrysops spp) are probably the most
important. Their larvae feed on aphids helping to knock down the aphid
population.
Thrips (Order Thysanoptera)

A number of species of thrips are known to be predatory on other thrips which are pests.
Beetles (Order Coleoptera)

The most notable predator member of this order is the ladybird (Fam. Coccinellidae). Nearly all the
ladybirds are carnivorous, feeding on aphids and scales and mealybugs. This makes them very
important agriculturally. The adult is easily recognized by the very beautifully coloured elytra. The
most common ladybird in E. Africa is Chilomenes spp which is generally black with yellow spots and
red markings in the adult stage.
Spiders and Mites (Class; Arachnida)

The class Arachnida even includes ticks. A number of mites attacking plants also belong to this class.
The predators belonging to this class are not very important in agriculture but they help in the control
of some insects important to man e.g. Spiders to control house flies.
Characteristics of a Successful Predator or Parasite

1. High searching ability
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The predator or parasite has to be able to sense where the host is. It must then move efficiently to the
host environment and find the host.
2. Host specificity.
The more specific a parasite or predator is, the more of the hosts it can destroy. Parasites tend to be
more specific than predators in their choice of hosts. A possible explanation is that parasites often
complete their lifecycle within one host and if the host is missed the lifecycle is never completed;
while predators can get alternate hosts
3. High potential rate of increase
Parasites and predators should be able to increase in number, fast enough if the population of the pest
to the checked or kept low. If this is not true, there will soon be too many pests for the predators or
parasites to destroy and pest outbreaks occur. Indiscriminate use of chemicals on crops reduces the
population of parasites and predators together with those of the pest. Pest outbreaks often occur as a
result of the predators and parasites failing to multiply faster than the pests.
4. Adaptation to environment
Adaptation must be biological, ecological and physiological in that the parasite or predator must
develop to avert mortality factors that affect the host and the environment. Physiological adaptation is
achieved when a predator or parasite is able to dodge all the natural defense mechanism a host may
put up as a result of the predator or parasite attacking it, e.g poisonous chemicals etc.
5. Seasonal Synchrony
The ecological conditions must allow for seasonal synchrony for both the host and its natural enemies.
In other words, the period when the pest population is highest has to coincide with the season when
the predator or parasite populations is also highest.
6. Easy to multiply
A good parasite or predator should be reared if necessary artificially. There should also be a method
of distribution. This allows for quick control of pest populations where natural raring and distribution
would be too slow to save the crop.
7. Stage of attack
A useful pest enemy will attack the pest at the damaging stage e.g. larva stage or preferably just before
the damaging stage e.g. the egg, Predators or parasites that attack their hosts after the damaging stage.
E.g adult stage, are less effective in controlling crop losses.
Practical Utilization of Predators and Parasites

Predators and parasites may be used to knock down pest populations in three major ways.
1. Introduction/Classical
This is when a predator or parasite is introduced from another region into a new region where it
originally was not, to control a particular pest.
The assumption is that the pest either has no natural enemies in the region or has developed to
overcome its natural enemy so that there is an outbreak.
Introduction has a number of problems attached to it such as the failure of the natural enemy to adapt
itself to the new environment sufficiently well enough to be able to effective controlling the pest.
Some successes have however been recorded in East Africa. The prominent one is the control the
Kenya mealybung (Plannococcus kenyae), once a vary important pest of coffee in Kenya, by
introducing its predator wasp Anagyrus kivuensis from Uganda. Another is the control the citrus
Black Fly (Alerocanthus wolglumi) in East Africa by introducing another predatory wasp
(Eritmocerus serius) from Malaya. This later example is sometimes questioned because the Black Fly
hadn’t actually become an important pest of citrus in East Africa. However since no serious outbreaks
have occurred we may as well attribute part of success in control to this natural enemy.
2. Conservation
This is when the natural enemy of the pest exists and yet there is a pest outbreak. It is therefore
assumed that a change in farm operation such as the use of agro-chemicals, has led to the death of the
predator or parasite while not affecting or even encouraging the multiplication of the pest. In this case
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the farm practice is abandoned in order to conserve the natural enemy. E.g. the practice of spraying
coffee with organochlorides such as aldrin, dieldrin or D.D.T is now discouraged as it leads to
outbreaks of many other coffee pests not affected by these chemicals. E.g. scales, mites etc.
3. Augmentation
The method is aimed at increasing the efficiency of the natural enemy by using a different practice
which will favour the predator or parasite while exposing of disadvantaging the pest. E.g. crop
rotation, early planting, manuring, pruning, irrigation etc. The end result is a big enough parasite,
predator population to keep the pest population down.
Compared to other methods of pest control, biological control has more advantages. The advantages
and disadvantages of biological control are listed below:
Advantages
1. There are no toxic effects and build up of toxins in food chains is not known.
2. No residue is left to cause environmental pollution.
3. There is no danger of pest resurgence as a result of interference with the ecosystem; such as is
caused by chemical control. Biological control can therefore produce a permanent solution to the pest
problem.
4. Resistance cannot be easily developed by pests against biological control agents.
5. Parasites, predators, pollinators and other useful insects are not killed.
6. From ecological point of view, it is self adjusting and self adapting.
7. It is a cheap method of pest control and often requires least attention from the farmer.
Disadvantages
1. The mechanism is very slow and needs a lot of patience.
2. They just reduce the number of pests instead of exterminating them.
3. Incase of outbreaks, there is usually panic and the method becomes useless in that it can not save
the crop fast enough.
CHEMICAL CONTROL
Chemical control is the reduction or prevention of pest damage by using chemical compounds to
poison, attract or repel the pests.
Chemical control is probably the most commonly used method of pest control. The method has the
following advantages:
1. It is often the cheapest and most effective method of control against important pests.
2. Standard equipment (e.g. sprayers, dusters etc.) is available for application of pesticides. This
makes application easy and application rates are easy to control.
3. Farmers can take individual action to save their crops even if community action is more
advantageous in some instances.
4. The broad spectrum action of most pesticides is advantageous in that only one pesticide may
be applied to control a number of pests at the same time. This reduces on costs and saves on
materials and labour.
In spite of the impressive advantages of pesticide use, the following are some objections to pesticide
use:
1. Pesticides are expensive to buy and may not be afforded by most farmers.
2. Pesticides are poisonous to humans, other animals and the environment when handled
carelessly.
3. The broad biological effect of pesticides, though advantageous from some stand points, is also
a major disadvantage because of the adverse effects produced on pollinators, parasites and
predators. This tends to nullify the benefits of control by pesticides.
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4. Pests can develop resistance to pesticides applied to control them. Although satisfactory
substitutes have often been found, pesticide resistance still remains a major problem to recon
with.
5. Pesticides cannot provide a permanent solution to pest problems. It has been observed that
every year the same amount of pesticide (if not more) is used to control pests on crops. This
should not be expected if the pesticides were a permanent solution.
Characteristics of an ideal pesticide

An ideal pesticide must have the following characteristics:
1. It must be toxic to the pest.
2. it must not be toxic to parasites, predators or pollinators.
3. Harmless to man, birds and mammals.
4. It should be reasonably persistent to avoid the need to apply to frequently.
5. Should be harmless to crops.
6. Should not leave taints or unacceptable smells on the product onto which it has been applied.
7. It should be suitable for practical formulation i.e. It should be in a form which is easy to apply
e.g. it can easily mix with water either as a suspension or as a solution etc.
8. It should be affordable (cheap).
Such pesticide does not exist. However, the closer the characteristics of a pesticide are to the ideal
pesticide, the more acceptable it is for use.
Terms used in describing the strength of pesticides
Lethal Dosage, Time and Concentration.

In describing the acute toxicity of insecticides, the term LD50 (Lethal Dosage) is used. LD50 refers to
the dosage of toxicant which will kill 50 percent of the animals in the test population. It is expressed
in milligrams of toxicant per kilogram body weight. (mg/kgs).
If it is given through the mouth it is referred to as the Oral Lethal Dosage while if it passes through
the skin, it is called the Dermal Lethal Dosage.
Where it is not possible to give the animals a definite dose by oral or dermal means inhalation
toxicities are often expressed as LC50 .(Lethal Concentration.) LC50 is more applicable in flying
insects or those which are difficult to reach except through fumigation.
When working with small animals e.g. aphids, mites etc. it is better to use the concept of LT50 (Lethal
Time). In this case the time taken for 50% of the animals in the test population is noted and the figure
is given as the LT50.
Other percentages other than LD 50 may be used so that one can have LD90 or LD99.9 e.t.c.
The LD 50 values should not be taken for granted to mean the degree of hazards that can result from
the use of insecticide. Many insecticides, in spite of their differences in LD 50 values present more or
less the same hazards. It is therefore best to note the following:
➢ Formulations are important e.g. liquids especially emulsifiable concentrates will penetrate
more rapidly through the skin than powders. Concentration of the chemical before and after
dilution is important.
➢ Experiments to find out the LD 50 have been carried out in animals and not man and the
reaction of chemicals on man may be different from that on the test animals.
➢ LD50 value should therefore only be taken as a guideline rather than an absolute degree of
danger a chemical can cause on land
Tolerance
Tolerance of insecticide residue in human food is the maximum amounts which can legally be present
in different kinds of food in a country.
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Many countries have established tolerances limits for most foods and pesticides. This has not yet
been done in East Africa. However when E. Africa exports foods outside they have to obey the
tolerance limits set by those countries.
To determine Tolerance limits
Experiments are carried out with different laboratory animals for over at least 2 years.
The maximum daily dose that will give no observable adverse effect on the most susceptible test
animal is determined.
This value is divided by a safety factor of 100 to give the acceptable daily intake for human beings.
Hence the tolerance limits are calculated according to how much that food stuff is consumed in the
country.
The tolerance limit is expressed in parts of pesticides per million parts of food stuff (ppm or mg/kg)
Tolerance limits are often very difficult to check and enforce. They need complex laboratory
equipment which is not often available.
Pre-Harvest Period
This is more practical parameter to use.
It is the minimum time span allowed between the application of a pesticide on an edible crop and the
harvest of the crop. Breakdown of chemicals applied on a crop is facilitated by environmental factors
such as heat, rain, cold etc. the plant metabolic processes are largely responsible for breaking down
the chemicals that enter into the plant.
All these effects are reduced by harvesting hence the pre-harvest periods must not include the period
of storage.
Pre-harvest periods are based on the recommended use of the chemical. If greater dosages are
applied, the pre-harvest period may be lengthened and vise versa.
CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTICIDES
There a number of ways in which pesticides may be classified and the following criteria is often used:
(1) According to their mode of action e.g.
(a) Stomach poisons
(b) Contact poison
(c) Fumigants
(d) Attractants
(e) Repellants
Many pesticides however, do not fit well in this classification because some may have many actions
e.g. attractant, contract or stomach poison e.t.c.
(2) According to the group of pests, they control
(a) Insecticides against insects
(b) Acaricides against mites of the Acarida
(c) Nematicides against nematodes
(d) Rodenticides against rodents
The term pesticide includes all categories of chemicals used for controlling pests i.e. Including
fungicides and herbicides.
This classification also has a weakness in that pesticides may be effective against several animal
groups.
(3) According to the origin or chemical content of the compound.
(A) BOTANICALS
These are derived from plants. The important one in E. Africa is pyrethrum.
Pyrethrum (Oral LD 50 for rats 800 gm/kg. tolerance 1 – 3 ppm).
- Obtained from different species of Pyrethrum specially Chrysanthemum
cinerariaefolum).
- Active ingredient - pyrethrums (can also be synthesized).
- Decomposes quickly especially in sunlight
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- Has a rapid knockdown effect on the pest.
- Has low mammalian toxicity but rather expensive
- Recommended against – Aphid, cabbages, fly, diamond back month.
(B) CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS
- Was the most commonly used in East Africa until quite recently.
- They are generally persistent insecticides in soil, water and living organisms.
- Have low mammalian toxicity therefore safe to use.
- Mode of action is not well understood but they are nerve poisons
- With DDT is it believed that its molecules react chemically with protein in the nerve cords
there by reducing the ability of the nerves to transmit impulses. No effective antidote of
this type of poisoning is known.
- Chlorinated hydrocarbons have low ability to penetrate plant tissues hence they will
control pests exposed on the plant surface.
- Except when used as a seed dressing or applied in the soil, their protection of new growth
of the plant is poor.
- Chlorinated hydrocarbons are highly restricted in many countries.
Examples:
DDT (Oral LD 50 for rats 113 mg/kg, Pre-harvest period 3 – 4 weeks, Tolerance 1- 7 ppm).
- It is both a stomach poison and contact insecticide but has almost no effect on eggs and pupae.
- Its effects are slow.
- Because of its broad spectrum, low mammalian toxicity and high persistence, DDT was used
very extensively throughout the world as a general purpose pesticide. In Uganda it was the
recommended pesticide on cotton and other major cash crops until as recently as the early
1980s.
- It is extremely persistent and may cause problems with the environment – its use is therefore
limited throughout the world.
- Effect of DDT on Aphids and mites is poor or lacking so its persistent use may increase the
population of these pests.
- DDT is generally a banned insecticide in E. Africa but it is now being reintroduced for
malarial control in Uganda.
Aldrin: (Oral LD 50 for rats 50 gm/kg, pre-harvest period 4 weeks).
- is a potent stomach poison and contact insecticide.
- It is particularly effective against soil pests.
- It is slightly volatile so it can also have a fumigant action.
- Aldrin is not very persistent but is converted in the soil to Dieldrin which is extremely
persistent.
- Recommendations against the following soil insects, coffee root mealy bug, cut worms, chafer
grubs and also grasshoppers and crickets.
Dieldrin: (Oral LD 50 for rats 100 mg/kg, pre-harvest 4 – 5 weeks, tolerance lint 0.1 – 0.05 ppm)
- Chemically the same as Aldrin but is the more persistent compound.
- It is more widely used than Aldrin.
- Some countries prohibit use of Dieldrin or Aldrin because of their persistence and
therefore their likely adverse effects on the environment.
- Until recently dieldrin was the recommended pesticide against: Banana weevils, Epilachna
beetles, stem borers in coffee and cocoa. It is also used for banding of tree crops against
ants which attend mealy bugs, grass hoppers, crickets, chafer grubs, cut worms, army
worms.
Lindane (Gamna BHC) or Grama HCH (123456 Hexachlorocyclohexane)
(Oral LD 50 for rats 125 mg/kg, Pre-harvest period 2 weeks, Tolerance limit 0.5 – 3 ppm).
- Lindane may taint crops like potatoes, carrots if the plant is planted where the chemicals
has been applied.
- Taints may also result from spraying. Hence lindane spraying may taint Arabic coffee.
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- Lindane is less persistent than DDT and dieldrin and will not easily contaminate the
environment.
- Used mainly as a seed dressing and has the ability to penetrate slightly in the seedling and
be transported slightly in the seedling.
- It is sometimes phyto-toxic hence it cannot be used for seed dressing onions since this will
reduce germination.
- In many countries, Lindane is used as a soil pesticide and for seed dressing.
- In E. Africa it is used mainly against stored product pests.
- Use of lindane should be done carefully otherwise concentration can become excessive.
- Recommendations: – cocoa, capsid, coffee root mealy bug, cotton stainers, stored
products against maize weevils, rice weevils, Angoumis grain moth, bean bruchids.
Endosulfan (Thiodan, Cyclodan)
(Oral lethal dosage for rats 40 – 50 gm/kg, pre-harvest period at least 3 – 4 weeks).
- Endosulfan has rather high persistence but lower than DDT and Dieldin.
- It has high mammalian toxicity.
- It is restricted to a few crops in certain countries and to a pre-harvest period of at least 6
weeks or more.
- It controls a good number of pests and is less toxic to bees and parasitic Hymenoptera.
- Endosulfan has been used as a replacement to DDT in crops like cotton.
- It is however highly toxic to man and other mammals – hence the need to institute extra
care when applying it.
Recommendations:
Cotton pests, coffee berry borer. Sorghum shoot fly, American bollworm, some mirids, green stink
bug, army worms.
Chlorobenzilate (chloroble fort superfix D)
(Oral LD 50 for rats 702 mg/kg, pre-harvest period 3 weeks, tolerance 1 – 5 ppm.)
- This is a typical acaricide.
- It is so devoid of insecticidal properties that it has been recommended for the treatment of bees
against mites.
Recommendations: Citrus bud mite, citrus rust mite, red coffee mite, red tea mite and oriental
mite.
Dicofol: Oral LD 50 for rats 2000mg/kg, pre-harvest period 2 days, tolerance 1 – 5 ppm.
This is an acaricide which properties are similar to DDT but different biologically from DDT.
Recommendation: Yellow tea mite, oriental mite, and other mites e.g. spider mites etc.
The present trend is to reduce the use of chlorinated hydrocarbons e.g. DDT, Dieldrin, Aldrin. For
crops protection purposes, these chemicals could be replaced by organo phosphates or other
compounds.
(C) ORGANOPHOSPHATES
- These compounds have phosphorus chemically bounded to the carbon atoms.
- They are generally of high mammalian toxicity with a few exceptions.
- Their mode of action is better understood than the chlorinated hydrocarbons
Mode of action
- Nerve impulses are transmitted by a vital substance known as acetylcholine.
- Only micro-seconds after the nerve impulse have been transmitted, the acetylcholine is
removed by the enzyme cholinesterase.
- It is vital for the normal functioning of the nerve that acetylcholine is broken down (into
acetate and choline)because if it is left there too long, it will poison the nerve endings.
- The phosphorus compounds inhibit this enzyme reaction and are therefore called
Cholinesterase inhibitors.
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- Thus these phosphorus compounds result in acetylcholine poisoning of the nerves causing
a breakdown in the normal functions of the nerves.
- In case of poisoning an antidote Atropine (also 2 PAM) exists but it would be best to seek
medical attention.
- Generally toxicity hazards to operators is higher with organophosphates than with
chlorinated hydrocarbons.
- Organophosphates usually have low persistence and can be easily broken down in the soil
when exposed and can be easily excreted in animal feaces. They do not create much
dangers of environmental pollution than chlorinated hydrocarbons.
- Organophosphates are systemic or non systematic.
Non Systemic Organophosphates
- These may penetrate the plant more or less at the point of application but they do not move
to areas of fresh growth or where they were not applied.
- They are generally broad pesticides with effect against several groups of insects and mites.
Diazinon (Basudin) (Oral LD 50 for rats 100 – 140 mg/kg, pre-harvest period 2 weeks,
tolerance 0.5 – 0.75 ppm).
- Recommendations: Homoptera, Thrips, flies, mites and some soil pests. In East
Africa recommendation are on bean, cabbage and wheat aphids, scale insects,
Kenya mealy bugs.
- Diazinon is also sometimes used to control household pests e.g. bed bugs,
cockroaches e.t.c.
Fenitrothion (Sumithion, Accothion, Folithion,).
(Oral LD for rats 250 mg/kg, pre-harvest periods 2 weeks, tolerance 0.1 – 0.5 ppm).
- This is the most widely recommended organophosphate in Uganda.
- It penetrates fairly well and has good residual action.
- It has a broad spectrum and is recommended against – aphids, psyllids, scales,
mealy bugs, Heteroptera, thrips, leaf miners, and some Lepidoptera and
coleopteran (rice stem borer).
Fenthion (Lebaycid, Baytex, Queletox).
Oral LD 50 for rats 250 mg/kg pre-harvest period 2 weeks. Tolerance 0.1 – 0.5 ppm).
Fenthion is rather similar to Fenitrothion and is recommended against some of the
same pests of leaf miners, Antesia bugs, cashew scales, melon flies, Mediterranean
fruit fly. In the Sudan it was used as an aerial spray against weaver birds (in 1969). It
also kills dogs.
Malathion (Malathion, Malathiozol, Cythion).
Oral LD 50 for rats 480 – 580 mg/kg pre-harvest period 1 week tolerance 2 – 8 ppm.
- The major attribute to this insecticide is its low mammalian toxicity.
- It can kill a large range of insects and mites.
- Its penetrability is poor compared to Fenitrothion or fenthion and is
therefore less effective on mining pests and internal pests.
Recommendations: Biting ants in coffee. cashew helopeltis, army worms, citrus red scale
and other scales, the orange dog in citrus.
Azinophos – methyl (Gusathion M. Guthion). LD 50 – 16.4 mg/kg
- Non systemic broad spectrum insecticides and acaricide.
- Has relatively long persistence.
- Is a contact and stomach poison.
- Effective against – Lepidoptera, mites, aphids, white flies, leaf hoppers,
scales, thrips, grass hoppers, some beetle larvae.
NB Gusathion M.S – a mixture of Azinophos – methyl an demeton-S-ethyl and
dimeton-S-mehthyl suphone has the same action as Gusathion M. but it also has the
systemic action.
Chlorfenvinphos (Birlane, Sapecron, Supona) (LD50 for rats is 10 – 39 mg/kg)
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- Relatively short lived insecticide.
- Effective against soil insects;
- It is non phyto-toxic at normal doses, and is therefore used against root flies
and cutworms, as soil application.
- As foliar application it is effective on leaf hoppers of rice, stem borers of
maize, sugar cane and rice.
Chlorpyrifos (Dursban, Lorsban)
- Broad spectrum insecticides with contact, stomach and vapour action.
- Has no systemic action, but is volatile enough to be effective in near by
untreated areas.
- Effect can last up to 2 – 4 months.
- Recommended against: Root pests, Red spider mite, Capsid bugs, Aphids,
Ecto- parasites of sheep and goats.
SYSTEMIC ORGANOPHOSPHATES
- They penetrate the plant tissue and are translocated in the transport system of the plant to
other parts of the plant.
- Presently they have a narrow range of effect than the non systemic ones.
- Their use if mainly restricted but sucking pests especially Homoptera and mites but some
are also effective on Heteroptera, leaf mining species of Dipterans and Lepidoptera.
- Systemic effect moves in the direction of water flow in plants hence root pests cannot be
easily controlled by applying the pesticides on the leaves.
- Therefore impregnations of the soil with these pesticides has sometimes shown better
results as the pesticide is picked up and moved upwards in the direction of the transpiration
stream.
- Low transpiration rate also inhibits the action of these chemicals. This means that parts
with poor surface/volume ration e.g. round fruits; cabbage heads etc will give poor results
with these chemicals.
- Generally the systemic effect is best on young or vigorously growing plant parts.
- Systemic organophosphates are protected against sunshine and other weather hazards
hence they are more persistent when applied.
- Some have both systemic and contact action so this broadness their effectiveness.
Dimethoate (dimethoate-met, dimethol).
Oral LD50 for rats 245 mg/kg, pre-harvest period 2 weeks, tolerance 1 – 2 ppm.
- Is a powerful systemic insecticide which location is quite rapid.
- Its initial effect on suckling insects is slow but the residual action is rather long.
- Dimethoate has some contact action on a wider range of insects than other systemics.
- Recommendation: leaf mining Lepidoptera, aphids, psyllids, white flies, mealy bugs,
scales, mites, pyrethrum – thrips, simsim gall midge.
Formothion
Oral LD50 for rats 330mg/kg, pre-harvest period 1 - 2 weeks, tolerance 0.3 – 2.0ppm.
- Formothion has a good effect on sucking pests.
- Recommendation; whiteflies, fassidsaphids, mites.
Menazon (Sayfos, Saphizon, Saphiol)
Oral LD 50 for rats 1950 mg/kg, pre-harvest period 3 weeks.
- menazon has very low mammalian toxicity but it is highly selective especially against
aphids.
- Has little effect on predators and parasites
- It is quite persistent
- This makes menazon the best recommended chemical against aphids, in all crops, of bean,
citrus, G. nuts, peas, tobacco, wheat, e.t.c.
Parathion (Parathion-ethyl)
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- Oral LD50 for rats 6.4mg/kg (Folidol, Bladan, thiophos, Fosferno)
- A very powerful organophosphate but has been excluded from E. Africa because of its
high mammalian toxicity. It cannot be used safely by farmers.
Dimeton-S-Methyl: (Metasystox)
Oral LD 50 – 56 mg/kg
- Systemic and contact insecticide and acaricide, it acts rapidly and it moderately persistent.
- Effective against – most sucking insect pests, saw flies and red spider mite.
Primiphos – ethyl (Pimicid)
(LD50 -140 – 200 mg/kg).
Broad spectrum insecticide, effective especially on soil inhabiting Diptera and Coleptera and
Tetranychidae.
Primiphos – methyl (Actellic, Blax)
- (LD50 - 800 mg/kg).
- Fast acting insecticide of broad spectrum
- It is translaminar with a slight systemic action
- Has limited persistence with fumigant action
- Used against – Lepidoptera, Coleptera, aphids and many other plant pests – Thysanoptera,
Orthoptera.
- Low mammalian toxicity means it can be used with little restrictions.
(D) CARBAMATES:
- Compared to the organochlorides and organophosphates, the carbamates are fairly recently
introduced as insecticides.
- A high number of experimental compounds exist.
- They may be systemic or non-systemic and their biological properties vary widely.
- Mode of action is similar to organophosphates i.e. they are cholinesterase inhibitors.
- Have a low mammalian toxicity
- Because of their low persistence, they have a good potential for future use.
Carbaryl (Sevin, Carbryl 85)
Oral LD 50 for rats 560 mg/kg, pre-harvest period 1 week, tolerance 0.2 – 10ppm.
- Carbonyl is a low systemic stomach and contact insecticides of moderate persistence.
- It also kills some beneficial insects and its use may result into pest outbreaks like that of
the spider mite in the Sudan and also of white flies.
- Recommendation: Soft green scales of coffee and citrus, leaf eating beetles, e.g. epilachna
spp, grasshoppers and cabbages saw flies.
Carbofuran (Furadan, Curater)
Oral LD 50 8 – 14 mg/kg.
- Broad spectrum insecticide / acaricide / nematicide.
- It is non persistent in both soil and in plants (1/2 life in soil is 30 – 60 days and in plants
less than 5 days).This is why soil application is in a granular form so as to control the rate
of release of the active ingredient.
- It is very poisonous and need protective clothing.
- Used against soil and foliage pests and mites, sap feeding insects, leaf hoppers on rice,
beetle larvae and cereals.
Methomyl (Lannate)
(Oral LD 50 – 130 mg/kg).
- Broad spectrum systemically and contact insecticide and acaricide – also effective on
nematodes.
- Has given control to certain nematodes, and soil insects, leaf rollers, caterpillars and spider
mites.
Primicarb (Aphox, Pirimor)
LD50 147 mg/kg
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Pirimor Extra = Pirimicarb+ Endosulfan.
- Selective insecticide used against the Diptera
- Effective where organophosphate resistance has been observed.
- Fast acting with fumigant and trans laminar activity.
- The active ingredient is translocated in xylem vessels.
- No acaricidal action.
ATTRACTANTS/INFOCHEMICALS
- Many attractants exist but the sex – pheromone appears to be the most promising.
- A pheromone is a substance which is secreted by an animal to the outside, causing a
specific reaction in a receiving individual of the same species.
The sex pheromone is most frequently produced by the females and attracts males and is
usually highly species specific.
- The pheromone can be used in a trap where males may be attracted and sterilized using
Chemosterilants. These males can then be released to mate with the females.
- A special technique known as “Booby trapping” may also be used.
In this method females are mass reared in the laboratory and given massive but non lethal
dosages of Chemosterilants. Enough of the Chemosterilants can be transmitted to the
males that attempt to mate the treated females.
- Booby trapping” has also been tried on insecticide resistant females. e.g. Australian sheep
blowflies highly resistant is dieldrin were given a topical dosage of the chemical and
released in a non resistant male population. Each female poisoned and killed up to 100
males during attempted mating.
- Chemicals that resemble pheromones (Pheromone mimics) have been discovered and
these can be used in one way or the other in traps with conventional insecticides.
FEEDING DETERRENTS
There are compounds which prevent the pest from feeding without killing them directly but by
starvation.
Feeding deterrents eliminate the damage rather than the pest.
Most feeding deterrents are surface chemicals. Systemic ones are not yet found but may be found
in due course.
Feeding deterrents appear to have benefits in integrated control because
- It is only the target organism effected.
- Long term killing ensures that there is food supply for the predators.
CHEMOSTERILANTS
- In addition to the induction of sterility in insect using radiation or genetic manipulations
chemicals can be used to induce sterility without necessarily harming the pest.
- All Chemosterilants are affective when fed to the pest orally – some are effective on
contact but a few are effective when used in the larval medium or applied to the pupae.
- A number of Chemosterilants are known but Tepa and Apholate are the best known.
These however have a high mammalian toxicity and their sterilizing effect is rather
indiscriminate. It is best to use them with suitable attractants.
HORMONES
Different hormones (or hormone mimics) have been used to control pests. These will interfere
with the normal development of the pest.
E.g. the moulting hormone (MH) (Ecydsone) and the Juvenile hormone (JH). In the process of
metamorphosis hormones are present but at different levels of concentration.
Incomplete metamorphosis:
MH MH
31
Egg nymph adult
JH
Complete metamorphosis:
MH MH MH
Egg Larva Pupa Adult
JH jh
- If both MH and JH are present in high quantities the next stage is a nymph or a larva.
- If the jh is present in small quantities but the MH in high quantities the next stage is a
pupa.
- If the JH is lacking altogether the next stage is adult.
By manipulating the concentration of these hormones, it is possible to disrupt development of the
insect.
Hormones mimics are found in certain plants.
SYNERGISM
Sometimes the toxicity of a mixture of two or more compounds is greater than that expected from the
sum of their effects when applied separately. This is the phenomenon of synergism.
- The most known synergist is piperonyl butoxide used to increase the effectiveness of
pyrethrum which when used alone can be very expensive.
- Pests may gain resistance to certain chemicals but their effectiveness may be regained if a
synergist is added to the chemical. e.g. The effectiveness of DDT on pests that have gained
resistance to it could be improved by addition of a synergist.
- Some plants are actually toxic to pests that feed on them but over the years the pests have
developed detoxification mechanisms which allow them to feed on these plants.
Synergists may be able to interfere with this defensive mechanism allowing the host plant
to be toxic to the pest.
Disadvantage
- Toxicity hazards to mammals and users may be increased by synergism.
- Mixing chemicals can increase chances of damage to plants.
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
IPM is a pest management system that, in the context of associated environment and the population
dynamics of the pest species, utilizes all suitable techniques and methods in as compatible a manner as
possible, and maintains pest populations at levels below those causing economic injury Note that there
are various definitions of IPM but all include at least two features: 1. Pest control involves more than
one tactic, 2. Pests are maintained at levels that are not economically damaging. Some definition may
include words such as minimizing environmental damage/or sustainable agricultural production. IPM is
not a technology, but a strategy and an approach to develop technologies.
Characteristics of IPM.
▪ IPM comprises strategies aimed at minimizing pest damage through careful integration of pest
control technologies.
▪ IPM differs from conventional pest control in that it allows for the existence of the pest within
a balanced system that itself imposes control. Where as conventional control suggests direct
intervention with little regard to sustainability.
▪ It gives priority to non-chemical control components and natural regulating mechanisms e.g.
host plant resistance, biological control, cultural control, etc. and uses chemicals only when
alternatives are clearly unable to offer sufficient protection.
32
▪ Because of the reduction in the use of chemicals, IPM minimizes environmental damage and
health risks. The method is also appropriate in small scale farming because it implies reduction
in capital inputs on agro-chemicals.
▪ IPM adapts a holistic approach to pest management. It takes cognizance of the problem as it
exists in the field, and defines the problem through a careful examination of how the following
factors affect pest control in the field:
➢ The farmer’s production strategy
➢ Social, economic, and political considerations.
➢ Ecological and technical dimensions.
▪ IPM is non prescriptive i.e. the practitioner must ‘think’ and not ‘do’ IPM. He must therefore
have at his disposal a range of appropriate technologies and adjust the mix according to his
perception of the problem. Pest management is looked at as a subject of crop management
rather than on its own.
▪ IPM is based on the premise that each control method used synergizes the other and that their
effects are cumulative and therefore effective and sustainable.
IPM steps
• Define management unit
• Identify pest in agro-ecosystem
• Develop a pest management strategy
• Develop reliable monitoring and assessment techniques
• Establish economic threshold of the pest
• Evolve predictive models
Components of IPM
- Biological control - Pest resistant cultivars
- Cultural practices - Pheromones
- Sterility technique - Minimum use of pesticides
- Other novel methods
33
Schematic showing the range of techniques that comprise integrated pest management (IPM)
Considerations for farmers' adoption of IPM

- Importance of the crop and pest problem - Effectiveness of the options
- Perceived economic benefits of options - Local availability of inputs or guidance
- Costs - Mass production
Advantages of IPM.
Initially IPM was conceived as a response to the problems posed by over use of chemical pesticides
namely: environmental pollution, pesticide poisoning, and resistance. Recently however, economic
and social overtones have been added. The advantages of IPM may be summarized as follows:
▪ It is cheaper compared to conventional pest control. This is because it emphasizes a reduction
in the use of chemical pesticides. Chemical pesticides are often imported and this exerts
constraint on the economy. The effect is greater in developing countries where agriculture is
the mainstay of the population. In these countries government has to subsidize the cost of
pesticides, but even then the costs are still way beyond the means of an average farmer.
▪ IPM is environmentally friendly in that it offers a reduction in pesticide use. It is now being
viewed as a central component of the new concern about environmentally sustainable
agriculture.
▪ IPM is easy for farmers to adapt as it involves the use of a mix of traditional and modern
techniques which the farmer finds easy to own. In the implementation of IPM the farmer is
taken through a process of discovering new skills and knowledge.
▪ IPM is safe to use especially by the poorer and often less informed section of the population.
Some of the poorer farmers do not know the hazards of agro-chemicals on their health or are
unable to afford protective clothing to reduce these hazards. Moreover, the use of protective
clothing may be too uncomfortable in the hot tropical conditions.
▪ IPM cultivates a spirit of self reliance in that decisions on pest control are localized. The
solution of a particular pest problem is thought out ‘on sight’ and the farmer is actively
involved in the design of the pest management strategy. This makes it easier to own the
strategy.
▪ IPM is an appropriate methodology especially where holdings are small or the crops are of low
economic value. In this case, costs could be cut by using less or no chemical pesticides at all.
Constraints of IPM.
▪ The holistic approach to IPM has created difficulties at the technical level because there are
very few technical people who have the will and capacity to think in a holistic way. The
majority of researchers are people of very narrow backgrounds e.g. entomologists,
mycologists, virologists weed scientists etc. these people are often inept to integrate all aspects
to be considered in developing a workable IPM package.
▪ IPM demands an understanding of systems and dynamics of pest control far beyond that
required to kill the pest. This will often require extensive research- which is often difficult to
fund especially when much cheaper alternatives such as chemical control are available.
▪ IPM is not a universal solution to crop protection problems. Migrant epidemic pests e.g. red
locusts and armyworms cannot be controlled by IPM. Such pests cannot be managed and often
interventions involving international agencies or government and pesticides are invariably
used.
▪ In the formulation of IPM packages, the farmer is expected to participate actively.
Unfortunately, farmers’ participation is often hampered by lack of knowledge on their part.
The situation is not made better by lack of accurate record keeping by the farmers.
34
▪ IPM demands a detailed understanding of the present agro-ecosystems and their dynamics in
response to intervention. Such knowledge is often lacking.
▪ IPM cannot prescribe standard packages for every farming system because each pest problem
is considered on its own merit.
▪ Farmers are often reluctant to adopt systems whose results they are not sure of. They therefore
often resort to more predictable interventions such as chemical control.
In spite of the constraints, IPM still remains the better strategy to adopt in pest management because it
has the least detrimental effect on the environment, it is safe and cheap to use and can be made more
acceptable to the farmer.
End of Part 1 of 3
35

VAG 3202 Crop Protection-Part 1 of 3 - Pests - Nov-2022

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VAG 3202: Crop Protection, 2022

VAG 3202: Crop Protection

1. Reddy, P.P 2012. Recent advances in crop protection, Springer India

Classification of insect based on economic importance

economically economically not

Injurious Beneficial Helpful

Causes of pest outbreaks

Economic pests: the population of the pests is above EIL

Pest of medical importance

Transmission on animal diseases (vectors): dipterans, true bugs etc

Agricultural importance (crops/plants)

Crop damage caused by insects

Piercing and sucking insects: damage plants in the following ways:

Methods that can be used to determine pest densities include:

Principles of pest management

1. The number of pests present.

2. The stage of the pest which is most damaging.

4. Mobility of the pest

5. Presence of natural enemies.

6. Effect of climate and other environmental factors on the pest.

7. Part of the plant attacked

8. Presence of alternate hosts

CONTROL OF PLANT PESTS

Prevention of pest damage in stores.

Rate – 100 gms / 2.7 cm. of cobs of 1% lindane

(b) Blue cross Dust ( Lindane 0.1% Malathion 1%,

METHODS OF PEST CONTROL IN THE FIELD

(I) FORECASTING PEST OUTBREAKS

In order to make plant quarantines effective and reasonable,

PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL CONTROL

(B) Construction of physical barriers to the pest

(C) Use of Extremes of Temperatures

Cultural techniques for arthropod pest control

Cultural control methods are usually:

Practical methods of cultural control.

4. Use of Healthy planting materials

5. Timing and proper planting and harvesting.

6. Use of Resistant varieties

7. Use of Trap Crops

Advantages of cultural control.

Parasitism and Predation

Below is a brief discussion of important members:

Parasitic Wasps (Order Hymenoptera)

Lacewings (order Neuroptera)

Thrips (Order Thysanoptera)

Beetles (Order Coleoptera)

Spiders and Mites (Class; Arachnida)

Characteristics of a Successful Predator or Parasite

Practical Utilization of Predators and Parasites

Characteristics of an ideal pesticide

Terms used in describing the strength of pesticides

Lethal Dosage, Time and Concentration.

INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

Considerations for farmers' adoption of IPM

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