Integration of cultural practices with insecticide applications in the management of cowpea pests

A diagnostic survey and on-station trials done in Eastern Uganda in phase one of the cowpea project identified Aphis craccivora (koch), Megarulothrips sjostedti (Trybom), Maruca vitrata (Fabricius) and pod sucking bugs (Clavigralla tomentoscollis Stal, Anoplecnemis curvipes Fabricius, Riptortus dentipes Fabricius and Nezara Viridula Linnaeus) as the most inportant pests of cowpea in the rgion sometimes causing a yield loss of up to 100%. Farmers in the area have tried various control measures including crop rotation and intercropping but these have failed to prevent yield losses. Farmers have come to realize that insecticide application is the only means of preventing yield losses on cowpea. However, this technology is out of reach for the majority of subsistence and resource-poor cowpea growers. Given the above scenario, there is need to formulate pest management strategies which could minimize the use of insecticides to enable even the poor to afford insecticide application, and reduce harmful effects of the chemicals to the people and environment. The main aim of this study , therefore, was to find a pest management strategy that can minimize the use of insecticides yet be effective in controlling cowpea insect pests.