Farmers urged to adopt Intergrated Pest management

Pests are a serious threat to the lucrative tobacco business as they affect yield, quality and ultimately profit margins.

Farmers are therefore encouraged to employ effective pest management methods from the seedbed right through to the destruction of stalks.  

Integrated pest management (IPM) entails combining several methods of lowering pest levels in the crop including prevention, cultural, physical, biological control and use of pesticides

 

Prevention reduces the need for pesticides as it aims to destroy hosts for pests and in so doing prevent the carryover of diseases.

 

Legislative dates sets the date for destruction of seedbeds as December 31 and for destruction of stalks as May 15. 

Following the legislative dates and removing stalks on time ensures that there is no regrowth of plants from preceding season and that food sources for pests are destroyed.

It is critical that growers adhere to 1egislative dates such as the earliest day for sowing which falls on the 1^st of June and earliest day for transplanting which is the 1^st of September, to avoid carryover of diseases.

Prevention enables farmers to manage costs and in the same vein maximize on profits as aphids are the main transmitter of diseases, especially bushy-top and the potato virus Y (PVY).

Tobacco planted around September October may not be affected by tobacco aphids whose peak period is in November December hence timing of planting can help in the prevention of pests.

This is particularly so as around November December one will be topping, an activity which helps in controlling aphid population as it thickens the tobacco leaves and results in the increase in chemical substances known as alkaloids that help fight off aphids and diseases.

Crops which provide alternate hosts to tobacco problem pests such as cabbage, tomatoes and potatoes should be avoided during the season.

Farmers are also encouraged to inspect different parts of their field for the presence of pests in the seedbeds or the field, observing the upper and lower sides of the leaves, as well as the bud and the stem.

Wilted and stunted plants should be uprooted, and roots together with the soil around examined for soil borne pests such as cutworms and wire-worms.

Farmers can approach Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), Agriculture Research Extension (AGRITEX) or the Tobacco Research Board (TRB) with samples of pests or wilted or stunted plants to get advice on how to best deal with the situation they will be faced with.  

Management of pests is best done from an informed position with appropriate amounts of pesticides as using excess is unnecessarily expensive while application of wrong pesticides leads to pest resistance, pest resurgence and environmental pollution.

Pesticides if not being applied as a preventative measure ought to be applied at the right time using the right method and rate for them to be effective.

Tobacco farmers should be abreast with approved chemicals and pesticides as residue from unapproved chemicals such as Acephate, Monocrotophos, Fenvalerate and Methamidophos if found in the crop will result in the rejection of the produce.

There are also organisms known as farmers’ friends in the integrated pest management as they regulate to some extent population of pests, although these cannot wholly be relied on.

Meanwhile, farmers are encouraged to register for the 2017 season and to submit estimates before the 31^st of October 2016 to avoid paying penalties.

 

The crop of the flue cured tobacco sold to date is 197 million kilograms.

 

For additional Information contact
TIMB on telephone numbers 0772145166/9 or 0279-22082/21982 or 025-3439 or 067-24268/29246 or 0277-2700 or 064-7280 or 0271-6772 or Toll Free Number 0731999999 or E-mail: info@timb.co.zw