The lepidopteran stemborers [Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Busseola fusca Füller (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)] cause major yield losses in subsistence maize production throughout Sub Saharan Africa. A ‘push-pull’ or stimulo-deterrent diversionary strategy for minimizing damage due to stemborers has been developed in maize-based farming systems for small- and medium-scale farmers of eastern Africa (www.push-pull.net). This strategy involved selection of plant species that could be employed as trap crops to attract stemborer colonization away from the cereal plants, or as intercrops to repel the pests. The two most successful trap crop plants Napier grass, Pennisetum purpureum, and Sudan grass, Sorghum vulgare sudanensis attracted greater oviposition by stemborers, than cultivated maize. The intercrops giving maximum repellent effect were molasses grass, Melinis minutiflora and two legumes, silverleaf, Desmodium uncinatum and greenleaf Desmodium intortum. ‘Push-pull’ trials, using the trap crops and repellent plants, significantly reduced stemborer attack and increased levels of parasitism of borers on protected plants, resulting in a significant increase in maize yield. The trap crop and intercrop plants also provide valuable forage for cattle, often reared in association with subsistence cereal production. Intercropping maize with D. uncinatum and D. intortum not only reduced stemborer colonization on maize but also significantly reduced parasitization of maize by Striga hermonthica, a parasitic weed of cereals in Africa. There has been considerable take-up of the habitat management system by farmers in eastern Africa and many farmers in different agro-ecologies in Kenya and Uganda have adopted this technology resulting in increased maize and milk production.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Pyralidae Chilo partellus (Stemborer)
Species 2: Lepidoptera Noctuidae Busseola fusca (Stemborer)
Keywords: habitat Management, mixed farming
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