PreprintArticleVersion 1Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Smallholder Farmers’ Knowledge, Perception and Management of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Zea mays at Irrigation Schemes in Limpopo Province, South Africa
Version 1
: Received: 11 November 2023 / Approved: 13 November 2023 / Online: 13 November 2023 (11:29:56 CET)
How to cite:
Nethononda, P.; Hurley, B.P.; Slippers, B.; Makhura, M.N. Smallholder Farmers’ Knowledge, Perception and Management of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Zea mays at Irrigation Schemes in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Preprints2023, 2023110816. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0816.v1
Nethononda, P.; Hurley, B.P.; Slippers, B.; Makhura, M.N. Smallholder Farmers’ Knowledge, Perception and Management of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Zea mays at Irrigation Schemes in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Preprints 2023, 2023110816. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0816.v1
Nethononda, P.; Hurley, B.P.; Slippers, B.; Makhura, M.N. Smallholder Farmers’ Knowledge, Perception and Management of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Zea mays at Irrigation Schemes in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Preprints2023, 2023110816. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0816.v1
APA Style
Nethononda, P., Hurley, B.P., Slippers, B., & Makhura, M.N. (2023). Smallholder Farmers’ Knowledge, Perception and Management of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Zea mays at Irrigation Schemes in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0816.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Nethononda, P., Bernard Slippers and Moraka Nakedi Makhura. 2023 "Smallholder Farmers’ Knowledge, Perception and Management of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Zea mays at Irrigation Schemes in Limpopo Province, South Africa" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0816.v1
Abstract
The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, arrived during the 2016/2017 cropping season in Limpopo, South Africa and it continues to cause devastating damage on maize in this region. The present study investigated knowledge, perception and management of S. frugiperda by smallholder farmers at Dzindi and Tshiombo irrigation schemes in this region. The study was conducted in 16 focus group discussion interviews, 12 at Dzindi and four at Tshiombo irrigation scheme. Although farmers failed to identify S. frugiperda eggs and pupal stages, they positively identified the pest by its larval stage and refer to it by several local names. All farmers relied extensively on insecticides for S. frugiperda control. With the exception of the Dzindi irrigation scheme farmers, who have adopted Bt maize, very few farmers have adopted alternative methods to chemical control such as mechanical control, physical control (crushing egg and handpicking of larvae), biological control, cultural practices (such as Push-Pull Technology), possible indigenous knowledge, or the use of monitoring tools, for the management of S. frugiperda. The study provided valuable information for designing sustainable management practices to control S. frugiperda on maize in smallholder farming communities.
Keywords
Fall armyworm; focus group discussion; insect pest management
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Agricultural Science and Agronomy
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
