Abstract
The study examined the usage of chemical and biological pests control methods among the farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. A three-stage random sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents. A well structure questionnaire was used to collect the data for the study. Descriptive statistics and partial correlation were used in analyzing the data. The study revealed that all the farmers were aware of the cultural pest control method, while 73.3 and 17.5% were aware of chemical and biological methods, respectively. Also, it revealed that 44.2% of the respondents use the chemical method of pest control, 7.5% use the biological method while all use the cultural method of pest control. Television remains the major means of accessing information by the respondents. The perceived effect of pest control methods on shelf life, marketability, productivity and profitability of the agricultural product ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th most ranked effect with weighted mean score of 4.26, 3.44, 3.39 and 3.20, respectively while perceived effect on pollution, loss of soil fertility and ecosystem imbalance were ranked 7th, 8th and 9th, respectively. There is a significant (p < 0.05) relationship between age, educational level, household size, farm size and the perceived effect of both chemical and biological pest control methods. The study therefore concludes that majority of the respondents have adopted the use of chemical method over biological method of pest control and that farmers have been using integrated pest control management. The pest control methods used were believed to have a positive effect on shelf life, marketability and productivity of their agricultural products. The study recommends the need to sensitize famers on the use and benefits of biological pest control methods as well as the adverse effect that might result from the excessive usage of chemical pest control method given the growing rate of its adoption. Key words : cultural, chemical, biological, integrated management, shelf life, marketability
Highlights
Pests are known to have negative impact on crop production as well as on human health (Tinyami et al, 2014)
Agricultural pests includes animals, insects, fungi, and bacteria that lead to a loss of crops or reduction in crop yield relative to potential yield that would be possible in a world without pests (Sexton et al, 2007)
Pesticides use in crop production has been reported to be a major contribution to environmental pollution (Parveen and Nakagoshi, 2001)
Summary
Pests are known to have negative impact on crop production as well as on human health (Tinyami et al, 2014). Pest attack in agriculture is usually observed both on the field and during period of storage of agricultural crops most especially in cereal production. Shamser et al (1976) reported that the attack by various insect pests causes damage to plant foliate, stems, buds, flowers, fruits and seeds resulting in substantial crop losses of marketable yield. It is estimated to cost farmers worldwide about 10 billion dollars to control pests (Van Lenteren, 2005). If this loss can be averted using pesticides, food can be made available for the world population thereby reducing global hunger directly, and positively affecting the poverty line which addresses one of the millennium development goals (Aktar et al, 2009). Pesticides use in crop production has been reported to be a major contribution to environmental pollution (Parveen and Nakagoshi, 2001)
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