PESTS AND OTHER FOOD SECURITY RELATED RISKS IN UGANDA

1. PESTS AND OTHER FOOD SECURITY RELATED RISKS IN UGANDA A PAPER PRESENTED BY HAKUZA ANNUNCIATA, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, ANIMAL INDUSTRY AND FISHERIES.

2. Pest Pest Definitions; In general it is any animal, organism or a plant which harms or causes damage to man�s animals, crops or possessions. In agricultural terms, a pest is that which causes loss in yield, or quality of crop resulting in loss of profit by a farmer.

3. Key pest Categories for Agricultural Crops Insects: weevils, mites,aphids Diseases: bacterial, fungal and viral Weeds: such as striga, volunteer plants Rodents; rats Migratory pests-locusts, army worm, birds, monkeys. Nematodes (soil borne and affect roots of various crops). All these categories become pests when they cause damage to crops

4. Economic importance of pests Economic pest: A pest becomes economic when it causes 5-10%.loss in yield of a particular crop. Economic damage: is the amount of injury done to a crop which justifies the cost of Control measures. Economic threshold: is the pest population density at which control measures should be started to prevent an increase in pest population from reaching economic injury level. Proper investigations to find out economic thresholds avoids unnecessary application of pesticides.

5. Impact of pests on food security Pests affect crops at all stages of development and affect different parts of the plant causing both direct and indirect effects. Biting insects may damage plants by eating leaves, stems, roots, buds, and roots. Damage through piecing and sucking resulting into loss of plant vigor, leaf curling, aphids, bugs Insect infestation may result in loss of quality by reducing nutritional value and lowering grade example is mealy bugs on citrus fruits.

6. Impact of Pests on Food Security cont. Pests affect food security through pre-harvest losses. E.g birds on all types of cereals, rodents on root crops, monkeys with maize etc. Pests affect food security through post harvest losses on stored produce. Eg. Weevils, rats

7. Prevention Prevention is the first line of defense includes such tactics as: appropriate crop husbandry practices to build the immunity of crops. using pest-free seeds and transplants preventing weeds from reproducing cleaning tillage and harvesting equipment between fields or operations using irrigation water free of pest organisms using field sanitation procedures eliminating alternate hosts or sites for insect pests and disease organisms.

8. Examples of avoidance Crop rotation such that the crop of choice is not a host for the pest Choosing cultivars with genetic resistance to insects or diseases Using trap crops Choosing cultivars with maturity dates that may allow harvest before pest populations develop Simply not planting certain areas of fields where pest populations are likely to cause crop failure.

9. Control Measures Control of pest populations may become necessary to avoid economic loss if prevention and avoidance tactics are not successful. These include Cultural Physical/mechanical Biological. Chemical

10. Control measures continued cultural practices such as narrow row-spacing or optimized in-row plant populations Cover crops or mulching Physical suppression tactics such as cultivation or mowing for weed control may be beneficial where soils are not prone to erosion, and temperature management or exclusion devices may play a role in post-harvest pest management

11. Control measures cont. Biological controls, where available, should be considered as alternatives to conventional pesticides. Chemical pesticides are the most widely-used suppression tactic, particularly on large-acreage or high-value crops.

12. Risk Factors,frequency,and geographical areas Pest populations are affected by environmental factors: weather ( humidity, rainfall, light and wind). Most fungal and bacterial diseases increase with humidity. Frequency and intensity is seasonal and depends on rainfall amounts Locusts breed in desert areas, and need seasonal rains for laying eggs and development.mainly feed on grass and cereals. The vlnerable areas are Northern and North Eastern Uganda. Geographical areas: Pests are usually specific to particular crops. All areas where host crops grow are risk areas.

13. Major pests and diseases of bananas in Uganda