Displaying all 3 publications

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Communication and implementation of change in crop protection
    Escalada MM, Heong KL
    Ciba Found. Symp., 1993;177:191-202; discussion 202-7.
    PMID: 8149821
    The slow adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) has been attributed to the widespread gaps in farmers' knowledge of rational pest management. Other factors such as farmers' perception of high input use and promotion of pesticides also influence decisions to practise rational pest management. To bridge these gaps and improve farmers' pest management practices, most IPM implementation programmes rely on communication strategies. These communication approaches utilize either mass media or interpersonal channels or a combination. The choice of which communication approach to employ depends on project objectives and resources. Among extension and communication approaches used in crop protection, strategic extension campaigns, farmer field schools and farmer participatory research stand out in their ability to bring about significant changes in farmers' pest management practices. While extension campaigns have greater reach, farmer participation and experiential learning achieve more impact because learning effects are sustained. Communication media are important in raising awareness and creating a demand for IPM information but interpersonal channels and group methods such as the farmer field school and farmer participatory research are essential to accomplish the tasks of discovery and experiential learning of IPM skills.
  2. Spider (Araneae) predations on white-backed planthopper Sogatella furcifera in subtropical rice ecosystems, China
    Wang XQ, Wang GH, Zhu ZR, Tang QY, Hu Y, Qiao F, et al.
    Pest Manag Sci, 2017 Jun;73(6):1277-1286.
    PMID: 27739189 DOI: 10.1002/ps.4459
    BACKGROUND: Spiders are effective biological control agents in rice ecosystems, but the comparative study of predations among main spider species under field conditions has not been fully explored owing to a lack of practical methodology. In this study, more than 6000 spiders of dominant species were collected from subtropical rice ecosystems to compare their predations on Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) (white-backed planthopper, WBPH) using DNA-based gut content analysis.

    RESULTS: The positive rates for all spider taxa were closely related to prey densities, as well as their behaviors and niches. The relationships of positive rates to prey planthopper densities for Pardosa pseudoannulata (Böes. et Str.), Coleosoma octomaculata (Böes. et Str.), Tetragnatha maxillosa Thorell and Ummeliata insecticeps (Böes. et Str.) under field conditions could be described using saturated response curves. Quantitative comparisons of predations among the four spider species confirmed that P. pseudoannulata and C. octomaculata were more rapacious than U. insecticeps and T. maxillosa under field conditions. A comparison of ratio of spiders to WBPH and positive rates between fields revealed that biological control by spiders could be effectively integrated with variety resistance.

    CONCLUSION: Generalist spiders could follow up WBPH population timely, and assemblages of spiders coupled with variety resistance could effectively suppress WBPH population. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

  3. Multi-country evidence that crop diversification promotes ecological intensification of agriculture
    Gurr GM, Lu Z, Zheng X, Xu H, Zhu P, Chen G, et al.
    Nat Plants, 2016 02 22;2:16014.
    PMID: 27249349 DOI: 10.1038/nplants.2016.14
    Global food security requires increased crop productivity to meet escalating demand(1-3). Current food production systems are heavily dependent on synthetic inputs that threaten the environment and human well-being(2,4,5). Biodiversity, for instance, is key to the provision of ecosystem services such as pest control(6,7), but is eroded in conventional agricultural systems. Yet the conservation and reinstatement of biodiversity is challenging(5,8,9), and it remains unclear whether the promotion of biodiversity can reduce reliance on inputs without penalizing yields on a regional scale. Here we present results from multi-site field studies replicated in Thailand, China and Vietnam over a period of four years, in which we grew nectar-producing plants around rice fields, and monitored levels of pest infestation, insecticide use and yields. Compiling the data from all sites, we report that this inexpensive intervention significantly reduced populations of two key pests, reduced insecticide applications by 70%, increased grain yields by 5% and delivered an economic advantage of 7.5%. Additional field studies showed that predators and parasitoids of the main rice pests, together with detritivores, were more abundant in the presence of nectar-producing plants. We conclude that a simple diversification approach, in this case the growth of nectar-producing plants, can contribute to the ecological intensification of agricultural systems.
Related Terms
    Try searching for something
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links