Humidtropics International Conference on Integrated Systems

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N A M B A N G I A J U S T I N O K O L L E , V I C T O R A F A R I -
S E F A , P R E C I L I A T A T A I J I A N G , F R A N C I S
A J E B E S O N E N G O M E , J E A N - C L A U D E B I D O G E Z A
a t :
H u m i d t r o p i c s I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e
M a r c h 3 - 6 , 2 0 1 5
I n t e r n a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e o f T r o p i c a l A g r i c u l t u r e
( I I T A ) ,
I b a d a n , N i g e r i a
Evaluation of Farmer’s Knowledge on Vegetable
Pests & Diseases and their Management Practices in
Cocoa-based Farming Systems of the Humidtropics
of Cameroon

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Outline of Presentation
 Background and Scope of Study
 Study Objectives
 Overview of Study Area
 Study Methods and Data Analysis
 Results and Discussion
 Summary & Conclusions

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Imbalanced diets: Lack of micronutrients
= HUNGE
= MICRONUTRIENT
DEFICIENCY
Deficiency in
vitamins & minerals
2 billion
malnourished
= IMBALANCED
CONSUMPTION
Excess
calories ≥ 1.4 billion
overweight
= HUNGERDeficiency in
calories & protein
≥ 870 million
underweight
Source: FAO; IFAD; WFP, 2012

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Traditional treasures: diet diversity
Amaranth
African
eggplant
Cowpea Ethiopian kale
Spider plant Nightshade

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Background: Vegetables, a path out of
poverty
 Vegetables are rich in micronutrients,
phytochemicals and a good source of
antioxidants
 Smallholders often have a
comparative advantage in producing
vegetables, since there are limited
economies of scale
 Vegetable production leads to higher
(diversified) farm income per unit
area and generates more jobs than
other crops
 Vegetable VCs help optimize farming
systems both in terms of
intensification & diversification

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Background Information
 In spite of their nutritional importance as well as increasing
demand by urban dwellers, the sector is hit with constraints
hindering production in quantity and quality
 Most farmers have little or no knowledge on safe and
effective production/processing techniques
 A common problem especially in SSA is the excessive abuse
and misuse of pesticides
 It is therefore common to find farmers using banned or
extremely dangerous chemicals on vegetable fields.

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Study Objectives
The main objective of this study is to ascertain and document
local knowledge and perceptions of vegetable stakeholders on
vegetable pests and diseases, and their crop protection
management practices within cocoa-based farming systems of
the HT of Cameroon

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Overview of Study Sites
•Involved 3 agro-ecological zones (Zones III, IV & V) located in the
humid tropics of Cameroon
• Zone III: Western
Highlands (Bafoussam area)
• Zone IV: Humid Forest
with mono-modal rainfall
(Buea area)
• Zone V: Humid Forest with
bimodal rainfall (Ebolowa
area).

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Study Methods & Data Needs
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 Desktop review
 Qualitative and quantitative survey methods, including
key informant and focus group interviews with one-on-
one structured interviews and complemented
observational assessments
 Descriptive statistics used to interprete data

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Results & Discussion
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 Cropping systems are highly diversified with 87.5% of respon-
dents cultivating vegetables under mixed cropping systems, 85%
of whom are women.
 Climate uncertainty & seasonality of some crops compel
cocoa farmers to diversify crops, food sources and income.
 Vegetables such as tomato, cabbage, green pepper and
watermelon are the primary crops in Baffousam, whereas
traditional vegetables such as African nightshade and
amaranth dominate in Buea and Ebolowa.
 Of the 15 vegetables cultivated at all 3 study sites, more than
60% were TAVs
 Insect infestation and fungal infection were found to be the
most critical biotic constraints

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Results & Discussion
Crop Loss Estimates due to Incidence of Pest & Dieseases

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Crop Protection Practices
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 Varied by vegetable type but mostly used pesticides,
especially on huckleberry, tomato, pepper and amaranth.
 The highest incidence of pesticide application was in
Baffousam area, with >60% of respondents confirming its
use
 Despite awareness of the harmful effects of excessive
pesticide application, a majority of respondents, particularly
in Buea, applied more than the recommended levels.
 More females than males applied higher than recommended
pesticide doses, used banned pesticides, harvested vegetables
only 2-3 days after spraying, and applied pesticides not
registered for use on vegetables.
 >60% of respondents did not store pesticides in safe places

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Results & Discussion
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Pesticide Misuse:
Drinking water in pesticide containers
Pesticides in wrong containersSpraying of insecticides prior to immediate harvest

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Results & Discussion
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 No significantly disparities between males and females
 Skin irritations (27.4%) common in Beua area
 Skin irritations + watery eyes (20.8%) common in
Bafoussam area.
 Case of pesticide causing blindness reported in Buea area
 Generally, few cases of dizziness, vomiting, stomach
disorder and headache reported from post-application
effects of pesticides.

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Summary & Conclusions
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 There are laws to cater for the environment and control of
dangerous chemicals including pesticides.
 Laws are based on certain international conventions e.g. the
Stockholm, Rotterdam, Bamako, and IPPC) but are hardly
enforced particularly on banned and inappropriate
agrochemical usage
 High incidence of pesticide misuse in some vegetables (e.g.
amaranth, Huckleberry, tomatoes, cabbage)
 Most farmers have not been trained on effective use of
agrochemicals on vegetables (especially TAVs)
 Very little awareness creation and sensitization on the
dangers of pesticide misuse. Spillover effects on staple and
tree crop production based agrochemicals on vegetables
 In adequate efforts to effectively enforce laws/regulations
concerning pesticides and/or dangerous chemicals.

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Thank you for
your attention

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Micronutrient content of common and indigenous vegetables
Ranges Tomato Cabbage Moringa Amaranth Aibika
Sweet potato
leaf
b-Carotene,mg 0.0 - 22 0.40 0.00 15.28 9.23 5.11 6.82
Vit C, mg 1.1 - 353 19 22 459 113 82 81
Vit E, mg 0.0 - 71 1.16 0.05 25.25 3.44 4.51 4.69
Iron, mg 0.2 – 26 0.54 0.30 10.09 5.54 1.40 1.88
Folates, mg 2.8 – 175 5 ND 93 78 177 39
Antioxidant activity,
TE
0.6 - 82,000 323 496 2858 394 560 870
Source: AVRDC Nutrition Lab
Traditional vegetables: Rich in nutrients