First Africa Congress on Conservation Agriculture

Lusaka, ZAMBIA 18-21 March 2014

 

Zeyaur Khan1, John Pickett2, Charles Midega1 and Jimmy Pittchar1

1International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya2Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, United Kingdom

www.push-pull.net

Climate-smart push-pull: A conservation agriculture technology for food security and

environmental sustainability in Africa

HUNGER AND POVERTY IN AFRICA

• Africa faces increasingly serious problems in its ability to feed its rapidly growing population, resulting in high hunger and poverty incidences.

• Africa’s productivity is the lowest in the world (around 1t/ha compared with 2.4t/ha in South Asia, 3.2t/ha in Latin America and 4.5t/ha in East Asia and Pacific)

• The major production constraints are pests, weeds and degraded soils.

• Ecologically sustainable growth in agricultural productivity is essential to end hunger and poverty and ensure food security, by naturally reducing incidence of the major constraints to productivity

Maize worth US$ 1.5b is lost annually due to stemborers in SSA

Chilo partellus

Busseola fusca

24% of the total maize cropping area in SSA is infested with Striga. Value of maize lost due to Striga is at least US$ 1.2 b

What is ‘Push-Pull’ Strategy?The ‘Push-Pull’ strategy is a novel approach in pest management which uses a repellent intercrop and an attractive trap plant. Insect pests are repelled

from the food crop and are simultaneously attracted to a trap crop.

Attract naturalenemies

Moths are pushed away

Attract moths

Trap Crop

Main Crop

Cook, Khan and Pickett (2007) Annu. Rev. Entomol. 52 : 375-400

Push-Pull Strategy

1= (E)-ß-ocimene; 2= α-terpinolene; 3= β-caryophyllene; 4= humulene;5= (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene; 6= α-cedrene;

7= hexanal; 8= (E)-2-hexenal;9= (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol; 10= (Z)-3-hexen-1-yl acetate ;

11= 5,7,2′,4′-tetrahydroxy-6-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)isoflavanone (uncinanone A); 12= 4′′,5′′-dihydro-5,2′,4′-trihydroxy-5′′-isopropenylfurano-(2′′,3′′;7,6)-isoflavanone (uncinanone B); 13= 4′′,5′′-dihydro-2′-methoxy-5,4′-dihydroxy-5′′-isopropenylfurano-(2′′,3′′;7,6)-isoflavanone (uncinanoneC), 14= di-C-glycosylflavone 6-C-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-8-C-β-Dglucopyranosylapigenin

Benefits of Push-Pull Technology

Sustainable Development Gender & Social Equity

Stemborers and striga

control

Increased fodder

production

N-fixation and reduced soil erosion

Increased forage seed production

Conservation of biodiversity

Increased crop yields

Improved cattle health

Improved soil health

Increased household

income

Technological Empowerment of farmers

Improved human health

Empowerment of women

Improved dairy

production

Improved FYM

Production

NITROGEN FIXATION WITH VARIOUS INTERCROPS AFTER THREE YEARS

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

Maize Monocrop Maize +Desmodium

Maize + Soybean Maize + Sunhemp Maize + Cowpea

Intercrops

To

tal N

(g

) / 2

50 g

So

il

a

b

b b b

Khan et al. 2006. Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems, CRC Press

On-Farm Validation of ‘Push-Pull’Technology (n=420)

Khan et al. 2008. Field Crops Research 106: 224-233

5

10

15

20

25

0

100

200

300

400

500

0

1

2

3

4

2003 2004 2005 2006

30

No. of emerged striga/63 maize plants

% stemborer damaged plants

Maize Yields (t/ha)

*

****

****

** *

Maize monocrop fieldsPush-pull fields

Integrating push-pull with livestock productionIntegration with livestock

Adaptation of Push-Pull to Climate Change

With funding by European Union, we have adapted the push-pull technology to the increasingly dry and hot conditions associated with climate change in Africa to ensure its long term sustainability.

SELECTION OF NEW DROUGHT TOLERANT COMPANION PLANTS

Brachiaria cv mulato

Vetiver grass

Screening for drought tolerant companion plants for use in adapted push-pull for drier areas of Africa

Desmodium intortum

D. ramosissimum

D. incanum

Research into New drought tolerant African Desmodium spp.

D. repandum

CLIMATE-SMART PUSH-PULL

A healthy sorghum crop under climate-adapted push-pull. D. intortum suppresses striga and stemborers by up to 100% and 70% respectively in sorghum, resulting in significant yield increases, from less than 1t/ha to about 3.2t/ha.

CLIMATE-SMART PUSH-PULL

Increased yield as striga and stemborer controlled in sorghum and millet

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

Adapted Push-Pull

Control Adapted Push-Pull

Control

Maize plot Sorghum plot

Yie

ld, K

g/h

a

First season on-farm results of maize and sorghum yields from push-pull plots planted with the drought tolerant companion plants: Brachiaria c.v.Mulato II as the trap plant and Greenleaf desmodium as the intercrop plant.

Farmers’ Perceptions of ADOPT

Push-pull Technology Adoption

About 18,000 of the adopters planted climate-adapted push-pull by December 2013

Climate-smart push-pull addresses multiple constraints

Major constraints How Push-pull addresses Constraints

Low soil fertility Increased nitrogen fixation by the intercrop

Degraded landControl soil erosion; increased organic matter and soil physical properties

The parasitic striga weed

Striga control by the intercrop, striga seed depletion

Stemborer pestsEffective stemborer control by companion plants, and natural enemies

Moisture stressSoil moisture conservation, improved water holding capacity by intercrops

Low crop yields Increased cereal yields (maize from 1 to 3.5t/ha; sorghum 0.8t to 2t/ha; millet 0.4t to 0.8t/ha)

Shortage of livestock fodder

All year round quality fodder from the trap and intercrop plants leading to improved milk production

Loss of biodiversity Increased abundance and diversity of beneficial organisms

Shortage of labour Reduced labour requirement for land preparation and weed control

Developing long term sustainability and system

resilience•We make the best use of locally adapted crop varieties and livestock breeds through their management;

•We harness agro-ecological processes such as biological nitrogen fixation, allelopathy, predation and parasitism;

•We avoid the unnecessary use of external inputs;

•We minimise the use of practices that have adverse impacts on the environment and human health;

•We make productive use of human capital - knowledge and capacity to adapt and innovate as well as social capital to resolve common landscape-scale problems.

Sustainable Green Revolution in Africa ?

A green revolution in Africa will come from adoption of simple, environmentally sustainable and low cost platform technologies like push-pull, which are developed by understanding and exploiting basic and applied sciences. These technologies will address food security and livelihood of smallholders without requiring extra resources for crop protection and soil improvement and without causing any ecological and social harm.

THANK YOU

Conservation methods for better livelihoods, better future…