Abstract
The ability of peasant farmers in the third world to monitor environmental occurrences around them has often been ignored. This study looks at Nigerian farmers’ perception of pests and pesticides and determines the relevance of such knowledge as an input to efforts to devise effective integrated pest management strategies.
Farmers in Kabba area of Kwara State, Nigeria were extensively interviewed and the following findings were highlighted: they had a deep knowledge of all insect, animal and fungi pests; could identify each pest, know their breeding cycles and their general behaviour characteristics; were able to make a relatively accurate assessment of damage caused by pests; and developed an indigenous integrated pest management strategy.
Due to massive pest damage in the last few years, and strenuous advertisement by the Ministry of Agriculture, many farmers are now turning to chemical pesticides for solution to the pest problem. Prognosis of future trends in pesticide usage among farmers reveal the likely danger of farmers becoming pesticide-dependent with the consequent possibilities of human poisoning and eventually aggravating the pest problem.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ajibola T. T. (1977) Mixed cropping as an input in the management of crop pests in tropical Africa. African Environ. 2, 111–126.
Allan W. (1965) The African Husbandman. Oliver & Bayd, Edinburgh.
Atteh D. O. (1980) Resources and Decisions: Peasant Farmer Agricultural Management, and its Relevance for Rural Development Planning in Kwara State, Nigeria. Ph.D. Thesis, University of London.
Barker D. (1979) Appropriate methodology: An example using a traditional African board game to measure farmers’ attitudes and environmental images. Inst. dev. Stud. Bull. 10, 37–40.
Barker D., Oguntoyinbo J. S. and Richards P. (1977) The utility of the Nigerian Peasant Farmers’ knowledge in the monitoring of agricultural resources. Monitoring and Assessment Research Centre, General Report Series 4, London: MARC, Chelsea College.
Chambers R. (1979) Rural development: whose knowledge counts? I. Editorial. IDS Bull. 10
Clayton W. D. (1962) Derived Savanna in Kabba Province, Nigeria. Samaru Bulletin 15, Ministry of Agriculture, Northern Nigeria, Kaduna.
de Vos A. (1975) Africa, The Devastated Continents? Hague W. junk.
de Wilde J. (1967) Experiences with Agricultural Development in Tropical Africa. John Hopkins, Baltimore.
Herrera W. T. and Harwood R. R. (1973) Crop interrelationships in intensive cropping systems. IRRI seminar (1973 series), Philippines.
Johnny M. (1979) Traditional Farmers’ Perception of Farming and Farming Problems in the Moyamba Area. M.A. dissertation, Forah Bay College, Freetown.
Jones A. P. D. (1945) Notes on terms for use in vegetation description in Southern Nigeria. Farming Forests 6, 130–136.
Keay R. W. J. (1953) An Outline of Nigerian Vegetation, 2nd ed. Government Printer, Lagos.
Norman D. W. (1974) Rationalizing mixed-cropping under indigenous conditions: the example of Northern Nigeria. J. Devl. Stud. 11, 3–21.
Page W. and Richards R. (1977) Agricultural Pest Control by community action: the case of the variegated grasshopper in southern Nigeria. African Environ. 2, 127–141.
Rarros R. S. (1973) Prospects and problems of integrated pest control in multi-cropping. IRRI seminar series, Philippines.
Richards P. (1978) Ethnoecological Studies and the Control of the Variegated Grasshopper in West Africa, Sept. 1978, Mimeo.
Ruthenberg H. (1971) Farming Systems in the Tropics. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Atteh, O.D. Nigerian Farmers’ Perception of Pests and Pesticides. Int J Trop Insect Sci 5, 213–220 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742758400008274
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742758400008274