Dudutech

Great day with our visitors at Dudutech Kenya. Professors from Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine and Okayama University through JICA Kenya (Japan International Co-operation Agency). Thank you JKUAT (Jomo Kenyatta University) for your support.

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The Dudutech Team in the Netherlands visits our loyal customer, Machiel de Roon at the Call de Roon farm. Machiel is growing healthy Zantedeschia flowers and using Dudutech‘s Amblytech C to protect the crop from Thrips and Broad Mites.

We interviewed Machiel about his farming techniques and his experience with Dudutech so far. He expresses seeing the increasing importance of Integrated Pest Management.

Click here to read the article on the Flora Daily platform.

We are excited to be exhibiting at the 2016 IFTF Trade Show in Vijfhuizen, Holland.

We invite you to visit our stand C4.20 to meet our team and discuss how we can help you with Integrated Pest Management.

Follow us on our social media platforms on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of November for live updates on the event.

Follow live updates on our Twitter Page

View images and updates on our Instagram Page and on our Facebook Page

We are excited to share with you that Dudutech was featured in the September/October issue of the Farmers Review Africa. Read about all the work Dudutech has been doing in the Agricultural Innovation sector in Africa. Featured on the cover of this issue is our Managing Director, Thomas Mason.

One of Dudutech’s oldest clients, RedLands Roses, shared some very exciting news with us.

Our Technical Sales Operator, Hannah Kibiru, applied Dudutech’s product, Cryptotech, three times in a section of one of their greenhouses one month ago. Cryptotech (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri) is the most active Mealy Bug predator. Both the larval and adult stages of this predator attack all stages of mealy bugs.

Stefano Banella, IPM Manager at RedLands Roses, explains to us that two weeks ago he reported seeing one adult Chryptotech. Then last week he reported that they had noticed a number of larvae and adults feeding heavily in that section of the greenhouse. “I think it is quite exceptional” expresses Stefano to our Dudutech team.

The Guardian

Article by:Felicity Lawrence

To view the rest of this article click here

The latest frontier is Africa, where there is a new scramble to spread the agroindustrial model of farming. It may well be in Africa, however, that a different, more ecological vision of the food future emerges. I had a glimmer of it on a trip to a large-scale horticultural export company based on Kenya’s Lake Naivasha.

The company, Flamingo Homegrown, has abandoned its long and heavy use of chemical pesticides, partly in response to a campaign highlighting their effect on workers’ health, but partly too in recognition that they were on a losing treadmill of spraying and pest resistance.

They have reinvented their agriculture in a way that makes the science of agrochemical use look as primitive as a blunderbuss. Instead they employ groups of highly trained African scientists to study and reproduce in labs the fungi and microrrhizae in healthy soil that form intricate links with plant roots. Rather than waging chemical war on the land, they are working to harness its immensely complex ecosystems. They have built vast greenhouses dedicated to breeding and harvesting ladybirds to control pests biologically rather than chemically.

There is an another route to food security – and it is the polar opposite of three agrochemical giants bestriding the world.

• This article was amended on 3 October 2016. An earlier version referred to glyphosphate; that has been corrected to glyphosate.

Dudutech is offering a variety of courses this October from the 10th- 14th of October. Each day we are providing a different course for you to choose from. For any price inquiries please contact dudutechtrainers@dudutech.com and confirm your booking

Meet David, a loyal Dudutech supporter who enjoys helping his father with farming work in Zimbabwe. David and his father were offloading a shipment from farmer, Gareth Palmer, when they came across this 1.88kg potato! Gareth’s biggest potato weighed 2.08kgs!

Gareth has been using Dudutech’s #Trichotech product for his potato crop in conjunction with his other products. He has been using about 5-6 bottles of #Trichotech per hectare. He also had a #Whitefly problem and so used Dudutech’s #Lecatech to solve it. He used a double #Lecatech with a chemical to squash it and is now thinking of using Dudutech’s #Beauvitech to squash the potato #TuberMoth.

Dudutech is proud to announce that our Production Coordinator, Eric Langat, is now an IFBA Certified Professional. Congratulations to Eric for his excellent scores on the Biorisk Management Certification Exam.

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Dudutech is proud to announce that our Biorationals Business Manager, Vitalis Wekesa (Ph D), is now an IFBA Certified Professional. Join us in congratulating Vitalis on his Biorisk Management Certification Exam.

Invisible to the naked eye, nematodes that parasitize plants are a huge threat to agriculture, causing billions of dollars in crop losses every year.

New research shows that these tiny worms use a specialized hormone to help them feed from the plant—a finding that could one day lead to crop plants with enhanced resistance to these devastating agricultural pests.

“Cell cycle regulation is a key aspect of plant development and one of the first events altered during the formation of the feeding sites nematodes use to acquire nutrients from host plants,” says Melissa Goellner Mitchum, a researcher at the Bond Life Sciences Center and a plant sciences professor at the University of Missouri.

“These discoveries led scientists to suspect that cytokinin, a hormone that promotes cell division in plants, might play a key role in feeding site formation for nematode parasites.”

Doctoral student Carola De La Torre and postdoctoral fellow Demosthenis Chronis worked with Mitchum to determine if nematode infection alters the cytokinin signaling pathways plants use to regulate growth and development and how the process changes due to nematode infection.

“As part of our research, we examined the activation of different components of the cytokinin pathway in response to nematode infection,” De La Torre says. “Also, we evaluated numerous plants that lacked the presence of these components and found that most of these plants were less susceptible to nematode infection.

“These results suggested to us that these little worms are not only utilizing parts of a plant hormonal pathway that is important for plant growth and development, but they also are doing it in a way that allows them to cause disease.”

Mitchum’s team worked with Florian Grundler’s group at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn, Germany, who further analyzed the connection between cytokinin and nematodes. Using advanced genetic tools, they discovered that nematodes create their own form of plant cytokinin and that, by secreting the hormone into the plant, they actively control the cell cycle leading to the production of ideal feeding sites to support their development.

These findings show the ability of an animal to synthesize and secrete a functional plant hormone to establish long-term parasitism.

“Understanding how plant-parasitic nematodes modulate host plants to their own benefit is an essential first step in finding new technologies needed to develop crop plants with enhanced resistance to these devastating agricultural pests,” Mitchum says.

Source: Sheena Davis for University of Missouri

Biopesticides, also known as biological controls or biocontrols, are organisms used to manage pests or diseases and are most notably used in agriculture. Biopesticides use natural food chains to manage pests and diseases by taking advantage of predator-prey or parasite-host relationships. With this method, growers can sustainably manage crop pests without harming non-target organisms, the environment or humans.

There are a few types of organisms which are typically used: natural predators, predatory mites, parasitoids, fungi and nematodes. The species chosen are isolated and thoroughly researched before only the best solutions make it to market.

Advantages of biopesticides (or biocontrols):

1. Effect on non-target species

Biological control products typically target a narrow range of pests or diseases while non-target organisms, such as birds, bees, fish, humans and beneficial soil organisms, remain unaffected.

2. Pollution

Since biological controls are naturally occurring organisms, at the end of their life they completely biodegrade and leave no harmful residues on the crop or in the environment. This feature helps promote the safety and well-being of people who work on farms and the environment.

3. Cost

Biological control, as a part of IPM, works to achieve sustainable management of pests and diseases, keeping the pressure well below economically damaging levels. Pests and diseases do not develop resistance to biological controls. Since the rate of application will only change with pest or disease pressure, farmers can accurately predict input costs.

4. Pest resistance

Records have shown that pests tend to become resistant to conventional pesticides thus proving that it is not a long-term solution, something that never happens with the use of organic pesticides.

5. Market

As the ordinary consumer became aware of the dangers posed by synthetic chemicals, demand for farm products that have undergone organic treatments rose. This makes the use of these chemicals a potential risk as there’s a glaring possibility of incurring huge losses due to the consumer shunning your product.

Be on the winning side! Please Contact Us for assistance on how you can reap big using biopesticides

The GFIA Summit (Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture), will be held in Abu Dhabi between the 16^th – 17^th of February, 2016. This is one of the most important global events in the agricultural industry’s calendar, where stakeholders meet to discuss and unveil the latest innovations in the industry.

What’s even more exciting is that, Dudutech’s Managing Director, Mr. Tom Mason will be a guest speaker at the conference. Drawing from the success of Dudutech, he will be speaking about innovations in agriculture.

As the leading biopesticide producer in Africa, Dudutech has overseen the research and development of innovative methods to combat pests and at the same time, reduce the effects of artificial pest control methods.

Built on the friendly slogan of ‘By growers for growers’, Dudutech’s approach to finding pest management solutions for farmers is unparalleled. This is because, while most of the newcomers in the industry push for company-profits-minded solutions, Dudutech develops its products with the farmer in mind. From the large scale rose flower producers, to the kitchen garden organic enthusiast who wants to lead a healthy life free from the disease causing residues of chemically treated products on the shelves. Both of these people, and the many in between, are considered during Dudutech’s production.

Dudutech goes further than developing products to providing a range of biological farming services. They are; certified trainings, scouting and monitoring, trials and laboratory services. These are essential for the implementation of a low residue, low socio-environmental footprint, fully holistic cost natural Integrated Crop Management Program.

In a recent interview by a leading national newspaper, Tom Mason summarises what Dudutech represents in a powerful statement, “It’s a holistic approach to farming where one utilises the full spectrum of environmentally safe farming products and technologies to their full potential.”

Read the full interview by The Star here.

Agricultural policies aimed at alleviating poverty in Africa could be making things worse, according to research by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Published this month in the journal World Development, the study finds that so-called ‘green revolution’ policies in Rwanda – claimed by the government, international donors and organisations such as the International Monetary Fund to be successful for the economy and in alleviating poverty – may be having very negative impacts on the poorest.

One of the major strategies to reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is through policies to increase and modernise agricultural production. Up to 90 per cent of people in some African countries are smallholder farmers reliant on agriculture, for whom agricultural innovation, such as using new seed varieties and cultivation techniques, holds potential benefit but also great risk.

In the 1960s and 70s policies supporting new seeds for marketable crops, sold at guaranteed prices, helped many farmers and transformed economies in Asian countries. These became known as “green revolutions”. The new wave of green revolution policies in sub-Saharan Africa is supported by multinational companies and western donors, and is impacting the lives of tens, even hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers, according to the study’s lead author Dr Neil Dawson.

The study reveals that only a relatively wealthy minority have been able to keep to enforced modernisation because the poorest farmers cannot afford the risk of taking out credit for the approved inputs, such as seeds and fertilizers. Their fears of harvesting nothing from new crops and the potential for the government to seize and reallocate their land means many choose to sell up instead.

The findings tie in with recent debates about strategies to feed the world in the face of growing populations, for example the influence of wealthy donors such as the Gates Foundation, initiative’s such as the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in pushing agricultural modernisation in Africa. There have also been debates about small versus large farms being best to combat hunger in Africa, while struggles to maintain local control over land and food production, for example among the Oromo people in Ethiopia, have been highlighted.

Dr Dawson, a senior research associate in UEA’s School of International Development, said: “Similar results are emerging from other experiments in Africa. Agricultural development certainly has the potential to help these people, but instead these policies appear to be exacerbating landlessness and inequality for poorer rural inhabitants.

“Many of these policies have been hailed as transformative development successes, yet that success is often claimed on the basis of weak evidence through inadequate impact assessments. And conditions facing African countries today are very different from those past successes in Asia some 40 years ago.

“Such policies may increase aggregate production of exportable crops, yet for many of the poorest smallholders they strip them of their main productive resource, land. This study details how these imposed changes disrupt subsistence practices, exacerbate poverty, impair local systems of trade and knowledge, and threaten land ownership. It is startling that the impacts of policies with such far-reaching impacts for such poor people are, in general, so inadequately assessed.”

The research looked in-depth at Rwanda’s agricultural policies and the changes impacting the wellbeing of rural inhabitants in eight villages in the country’s mountainous west. Here chronic poverty is common and people depend on the food they are able to grow on their small plots.

Farmers traditionally cultivated up to 60 different types of crops, planting and harvesting in overlapping cycles to prevent shortages and hunger. However, due to high population density in Rwanda’s hills, agricultural policies have been imposed which force farmers to modernise with new seed varieties and chemical fertilisers, to specialise in single crops and part with “archaic” agricultural practices.

Dr Dawson and his UEA co-authors Dr Adrian Martin and Prof Thomas Sikor recommend that not only should green revolution policies be subject to much broader and more rigorous impact assessments, but that mitigation for poverty-exacerbating impacts should be specifically incorporated into such policies. In Rwanda, that means encouraging land access for the poorest and supporting traditional practices during a gradual and voluntary modernisation.

Find the full report here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15002302

There’s a similarity that’s found in aphids, scale, mealybug and whiteflies. It is that they are are all sap-suckers. What’s more? They all release a sweet, sticky liquid that oozes from them as they suck juice from the plants. When this solution lands on the plant, sooty mould takes hold. This ashen-looking fungus does not infect plants, but it blocks the process of photosynthesis. This results in leaf drops and ugly sooty foliage on plant stems, leaves and fruits.

Although common in roses, aphids also attack vegetables such as beans, peas, melons, cucumbers and tomatoes, among others. In addition to sucking, they can also transmit other diseases from plant to plant. Their activities can result in curling and distortion in young foliage, yellowing of leaves and stunted growth in plants.

These soft-bodied insects are about 25mm long and usually wingless and pear-shaped. Depending on the climatic zone, host or species, they can be black, green, grey or milky-cream. They have mouths designed to suck juices from plants.

Aphids’ life cycle is a little different as females give birth to young live and can do so without mating. This they do at a very high rate.

Organic Control

Moist cloth

If you are handling a small area, you can simply use a moist cloth to wipe aphids from plants. This can be time consuming but the results are instant. Do this for two or three days while monitoring the results.

Hose spray

Spray affected plants with a strong jet of water from a hose. Return after a couple of days and see if aphids have left your plants alone. You can then wipe away the soaked aphids or prune the plants.

Attract beneficial insects

This can be done by planting companion plants that attract predators such as ladybirds that can wipe out aphids. Or, easily get organic bio-controls and reduce the time and resources required to attract them to your plants.

Leave ants alone

There is a misconception among many farmers that ants bring aphids to plants. This is not true. In fact, aphids land there first then ants get attracted by the honeydew. That being said, ants are important predators and decomposers in the farm and often drag aphids away.

Do not over-fertilise

Feeding aphid-infested nitrogen-rich fertilisers only increases the aphids’ feed and result in them multiplying.

Weeding

Weed out your ornamental garden or patch frequently to keep aphids away

Pruning

Prune shoots that have been infested by aphids and throw them away.

Would you like to implement an ICM programme? Contact us and we will assist you

Weeds are a major scourge for organic growers, who often must invest in multiple control methods to protect crop yields. A relatively new weed control method known as abrasive weeding, or “weed blasting,” could give organic growers another tool. The method, recently field-tested at the University of Illinois, is surprisingly effective.

In conjunction with plastic mulch, abrasive weeding reduced final weed biomass by 69 to 97 percent compared to non-weeded control plots, said U of I agroecologist Samuel Wortman.

Abrasive weeding involves blasting weed seedlings with tiny fragments of organic grit, using an air compressor. For the current study, grit was applied through a hand-held siphon-fed sand-blasting unit connected to a gas-powered air compressor, which was hauled down crop rows with a walk-behind tractor. The study looked at a number of grit sources: walnut shells, granulated maize cob, greensand, and soybean meal. If applied at the right plant growth stage, the force of the abrasive grit severely damages stems and leaves of weed seedlings.

Wortman found no significant differences between the grit types in terms of efficacy. “When it leaves the nozzle, it’s at least Mach 1 [767 mph],” Wortman noted. “The stuff comes out so fast, it doesn’t really matter what the shape of the particle is.” Because ricocheting particles can pose a risk to the applicator, Wortman advises using protective eyewear.

Blasted grit does not discriminate between weed and crop seedlings, which makes it important to use this method in transplanted crops that are substantially larger than weed seedlings at the time of grit application. Although some visible damage occurred on stems and leaves of both tomato and pepper crops, the damage did not affect marketable fruit yield. Studies are ongoing to determine whether abrasions on crop tissues could result in increased susceptibility to disease, but early results show little effect.

Importantly, plots with plastic mulch and one or more blasting treatment achieved the same fruit yields seen in hand-weeded plots, and 33 to 44 percent greater yields than in non-weeded control plots.

An additional benefit of weed blasting is the potential for growers to use organic fertilizers, such as soybean meal, as blasting material. “We expect that abrasive weeding could contribute between 35 and 105 kg nitrogen per hectare [31 – 94 lbs per acre] to soil fertility.” The idea that a grower could both fertilize and kill weeds in a single pass is appealing, but it is still unknown whether the fertilizer would be available for plant uptake within critical windows.

According to Wortman’s research, weed blasting does affect some weeds more than others. Essentially, the smaller the seedling, the better. Also, seedlings whose growing points are aboveground (annual broadleaf species) are more susceptible to blasting than seedlings whose growing tips are located belowground (grasses and broadleaf perennials). Finally, Wortman noted that the presence of plastic mulch seemed to factor strongly into the equation. Weed blasting alone “is not a silver bullet, but it is an improvement,” he said.

The method is now being tested in different horticultural crops, including broccoli and kale, with and without additional weed control methods. Early results suggest that the presence of polyethylene mulch or biodegradable plastic mulch strongly enhances the success of weed blasting, as compared with straw mulch and bare soil. Wortman and his collaborators have also developed a mechanized grit applicator, which they are currently testing.

Full research paper here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261219415300788

You have spent a whole season tending to your crops, all the while dreaming of how much you will earn when your produce reaches the market. Along the way you even found them healthy enough and #instaworthy. Now they are ready for harvesting but, to where? All of a sudden the fantasy evaporates and in sinks reality: You don’t know where to sell them! How will you get that money?
Here are a few places to get you started;

Do your homework

Before setting off on your journey to farming success, do some research. Find a niche and determine if there is demand for your intended crop. The lack of a product in the market could be due to arrange of reasons. From the lack of demand to the cost of production being higher than the potential returns.

Consider organisations
Instead of selling to individuals or small markets, consider applying for tenders in institutions and the government. Start with inquiring about in those found around your local area.

Export
Exporting need not necessarily mean out of the country. You can sell to another town or city. When doing this, remember to include the transportation costs in your calculations. If you can afford your own transport, this can lower the cost significantly.

Establish a new market
Sometimes all you need to do is take the leap of faith and establish your own market. Remember to base it on your research though as some factors e.g religious practices and local customs might be the reason a certain product is not available in a certain area.

Local market
You can also start small. Find a stall at your local market and start building a loyal customer base. Depending on your skills, this can turn out to be a huge opportunity as you expand.

Would you like to implement an ICM programme? Contact us and we will assist you.

Nematodes, an abundant group of roundworms that exist in nearly every habitat, have long been used as model organisms for studying the function of neurons – the basic unit of animal nervous systems. For years, it was assumed that neuron anatomy was remarkably similar across this large and diverse group. A recent study by University of Illinois researchers turns that assumption on its head.

“It was a comparative study looking at all of these different species of nematodes, including some parasites, and seeing that there are some substantial differences in the number of neurons in the ventral cord,” says U of I nematologist Nathan Schroeder.

According to Schroeder, discovering this degree of variation across the group suggests that neuron number and anatomy may have changed numerous times during nematode evolution. This is significant because the evolution of nervous systems is notoriously difficult to study in complex higher animals. Being able to study the relatively simple nervous system in nematodes can shed light on some basic research questions in nervous system evolution.

“This group of animals has the simplicity that makes it easy to work with in the lab, but there are these differences across species. So, we can target that and figure out how nervous systems are evolving.”

On a more practical level, the results of this study may lead to development of new nematicides – pesticides that target plant-parasitic nematodes.

“We know from some of the old nematicides that the nervous system is a very effective target. Unfortunately, some of those nematicides were very broad spectrum and would target anything with a nervous system, including us,” Schroeder noted.

The study showed that soybean cyst nematodes, a major crop pest in Illinois, may have unique neurons that could be targeted by new nematicides to avoid harming beneficial soil organisms. More research will be required to determine whether such a product could be developed, but the study indicates that the potential may exist.

The authors are now focusing their attention on soybean cyst nematodes to identify unique neurons and to learn more about how those neurons affect the movement of the microscopic roundworms in the soil and in soybean plants.

Original paper can be found here: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnana.2015.00162/abstract

Aphids suck up an almost endless supply of sugary sap from their plant hosts. They can survive on this junk food diet because bacterial partners help them convert the handful of amino acids in the sap into other, essential amino acids–not by recycling them, but by breaking them down and rebuilding from scratch, a new study finds.

Scientists have long assumed that aphids either use these amino acids directly or convert their carbon skeletons into other amino acids, which they use to make proteins. But by following the fate of carbon and nitrogen atoms ingested by the aphids, BTI scientists Georg Jander and Meena Haribal found that amino acid synthesis takes a very indirect route. Their findings appear in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

“We were surprised,” said Haribal, a research associate. “We didn’t know that they would deplete everything and make it from scratch.”

Plant sap is such a limited food source for the aphid because it predominantly contains four amino acids–glutamine, glutamate, asparagine and aspartate–which serve as the primary nitrogen source for the aphid. Plant roots synthesize these amino acids to transport nitrogen compounds, which they take up from soil.

To keep from starving, aphids have evolved a symbiotic relationship with a bacterium called Buchnera aphidicola, which helps to provide essential amino acids. Buchnera is an endosymbiont that can no longer survive independently outside of the aphid.

Earlier studies of the aphid genome suggest that the insect uses the carbon backbone of the plant amino acids to build the rest of the amino acids that they need. Scientists have also used amino acids labeled with radioactive carbon and nitrogen atoms to see where these amino acids end up, but these experiments were not precise enough to show how individual carbon and nitrogen atoms move through the insect’s metabolism.

Haribal fed pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) a diet of sugar sap and amino acids containing heavier isotopes of carbon or nitrogen–rare atoms that have extra neutrons in their nuclei and thus higher mass–that can be detected using a mass spectrometer. She supplied the insects with the liquid by sandwiching it in between two layers of Parafilm, which the aphids accessed by poking their needle-like stylets through the film.

Once the aphids had incorporated the isotope-labeled amino acids into their bodies, their structures were broken up and analyzed with a GC-MS, which separates out the individual pieces and allowed Haribal to figure out where the heavy carbon and nitrogen atoms ended up.

Jander and Haribal saw that the amino acids inside the aphid’s cells were a mixture of heavy and light atoms, indicating that the plant amino acids had been completely dismantled and remade. Even aspartic acid, which the researchers supplied in bulk to the aphids, was broken down and reconstructed.

“Because they have an unbalanced diet, whatever amino acids they get, they just break it down and resynthesize,” said Haribal. She suspects that this strategy is a result of their limited diet, coupled with the fact that levels of amino acids can vary greatly within plants, depending on the available nitrogen sources. Breaking down all amino acids into their components to make essential amino acids and other molecules, such as DNA, likely evolved as the most efficient process.

Haribal is interested in exploring this phenomenon in other species. Many animals subsist on unbalanced diets but have gut microbes or symbionts that break down their diet and provide more nutrition. For instance, similar to aphids, cows can survive on a diet with an imbalanced amino acid content because their rumen bacteria contribute to the supply of these essential nutrients.

“Lots of insects feed on only one thing, so they have to have some way of getting a balanced diet,” said Haribal. “They have to get all the essential amino acids from somewhere.”

Source: EurekAlert

French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important horticultural crop in Kenya and accounts for over 60% of all exported vegetables. The main share of production is the small scale farmers who contribute more than 80% of production, and rely mainly on pesticides for pest management. French beans production involves high use of pesticides withm Many farmers reportedly applying up to 11 sprays per season, resulting in residue problems. This is partly fuelled by consumers in the developed countries, who form the bulk of the market for the French bean crop from developing countries, demanding for French beans with specific attributes such as size and spotlessness. This therefore, encourages farmers to rely increasingly on the use of pesticides to control pests. But the acceptable tolerance for pesticides residue in French beans is a major concern to the consumers. Among measures put in place in the importing countries are standards that require food products to meet prescribed maximum residue levels (MRLs) and another to reduce exposure of farm workers and other non-target fauna and flora. Emphasis is placed on consumer safety by use of approved less toxic pesticides and strict observance of the pre-harvest intervals which prescribes the latest date for pesticides use for ensuring safe residue levels.

In Kenya, there is growing evidence to show that alternative approaches and products are effective at managing pests without the side-effects associated with reliance on pesticides. Many farmers are successfully implementing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on many different types of crops.

Dudutech has experience and proven track record in developing alternates to pesticides and in training and information on Good Agri-Practices (GAP) aimed at of giving farmers the skills, knowledge and confidence to make ecologically, socially and economically sound decisions on crop health. The alternatives such as traps, pheromones, and biocontrol products that play a role in IPM strategies are widely available. There is a wide range of Biological Control products (BCPs), that Dudutech is currently licensed to manufacture and distribute. The main products for French beans-IPM solutions are (Lecatech^® (Lecanicilium lecani) for the control of whiteflies, thrips and aphids; Beauvitech^® (Beauveria bassiana) for the control of thrips and whiteflies; Mytech^® (Paecilomyces lilacanus) for the control of plant parasitic nematodes; Nematech H^® (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora) for the control of cutworms, caterpillars and leafminer and Trichotech^® (Trichoderma spp.) for the control of Fusarium, Pythium, Sclerotinia and Rhizoctonia).

What the industry desperately needs is an integrated approach to pest management. We need products which will replace pesticides. This ensures French beans do not exceed set MRLs. This approach has been adopted mainly by large scale producers who constitute over 20% of French beans production, while increasing farm income. Declaring IPM as the crop protection approach of choice is the way to go.

Finlays Horticulture, a supplier to M&S, are moving away from using synthetic pesticides, in response to increasing concerns over the effect they are having on the environment. With insects becoming more resistant to synthetic pesticides as well as the unknown effects that they may be having on farm workers and consumers, an alternative was needed.

In 2001 there were very few biological products available and Dudutech was started to develop biological products and create an integrated pest management strategy (IPM). Dudutech pioneered IPM in Kenya, finding and developing local strains of beneficial organisms, and innovative methods of application.

Taking the lead in this area, Dudutech has grown into an organisation employing more than 210 people, producing 17 products, and has successfully developed biological, physical and cultural methods to replace many traditional pesticide treatments.

Identifying that over 60% of insecticides used in flowers were to control the spidermite, Dudutech introduced a voracious predatory mite called Phytoseiulus persimilis to reduce the need for mite control pesticides. At Finlay Flowers South Africa, Phytoseiulus has reduced the level of synthetic pesticides used to combat spidermites to zero, and all 21 hectares of chrysanthemums are fully under this system. At present 90% of Finlays Horticulture’s farms only use biological methods to control spidermites and 100% of the area is under some form of IPM.

Recognising that a healthy soil grows a healthy plant, Dudutech has developed a wide range of beneficial soil organisms that are used on all Finlays Horticulture Farms. This has resulted in a further reduction in synthetic pesticide and fertilizer use, together with increasing soil biodiversity in line with the Finlays’ motto of long term sustainability.

A great example of ‘Environmentally Intelligent Farming’ in action!

The primary goal of bio-control is to optimize pest management in an economically sound, socially acceptable and environmentally friendly manner. Contrary to the initial perception that bio-control was optional and only applied to suppliers accessing certain direct markets in Europe, the past decade has seen a steady growth of bio-control across the Kenyan horticultural industry resulting in massive reduction in pesticide inputs. While stricter local and international regulation of pesticides have certainly played a part in this current state of affairs, greater flexibility and practicability of bio-control on the day to day farm operations are equally important.

Hot spot

IPM practitioners must continuously innovate and adopt specific techniques to judiciously manage pests in a sustainable way. One of the techniques gaining immense popularity is hot spot treatment. A hot spot is an unusual pressure point with relatively higher pest population in relation to homogeneity of its distribution on a crop. Hot spot treatment has been singled out as one of the viable methods of managing costs, reducing pesticide residues levels, countering secondary pests (e.g. mealybugs) outbreaks, managing resistance and ultimately producing quality flowers free of pests and diseases.

Dudutech pioneered this technique in partnership with DANIDA scientists in a study done in one of the Kenyan major horticultural farms. In the greenhouses where hot spot application of PHYTOTECH^® (Phytosieulus persimilis) were done to target red spider mites, quicker control was achieved with fewer numbers of the bio-control agents (Phytosieulus spp) introduced compared to where blanket applications of the same were done. It was also noted that mortality due to sprays targeting other pests was minimal as the treated spots can be avoided. Another benefit observed was in the management of other pests especially mealybugs. Mealybugs share the same host niche as red spider mites in relation to crop canopy and have recently emerged as one of the most difficult pests to manage due to their complex physical characteristics. Growers have the option of spot spraying mealybug spots with their products of choice continuously without fear of suspending or affecting their bio-logical control programme unlike the blanket sprays.

Opportunity

On a number of field trials done in different flower growing regions in Kenya, the hot spot concept has successfully wiped out the issue of intermittent use of Phytoseiulus spp due to what is perceived as secondary pest infestation. Growers on massive hacterage have also gotten a reprieve due to the quantities applied per area treated against the actual projected blanket treatment. This has resulted into unusual demand for Biological control agents and eroded the element of cost. Another hidden benefit related to this concept is the opportunity to integrate other biological control agents with minimal cost and greater benefits. In conclusion, I can assure growers that with the adoption of the hot spot approach, one can effectively achieve satisfactory pest control saving up to 40-60% of their IPM budget. Patience, commitment, trust, precise scouting and the will to invest remain the key pillars of a successful IPM programme.