Abstract
This study was conducted in five randomly selected rice schemes in Morogoro region to obtain information on farmers’ knowledge, attitude and practice in respect to management strategies undertaken for controlling insect pests both in rice fields and stores as an aid to reduce crop loss. A total of 150 farmers were randomly selected from 5 villages (30 respondents per village) and interviewed using semi structured questionnaires. Each village represented only one rice scheme. The study reveals that 61.3% of farmers cultivate rice under 0.5 to 1 acres showing that the crop is grown largely by small scale farmers. About 94.4% of farmers reported to have faced insect pest problems in rice fields with no farmer reported damage in store. It was reported that 82% of farmers control insect pests in their rice field when they notice their presence. Most of farmers (84%) used synthetic insecticides where some of them do nothing and others use non-chemical method. However, among those farmers who use pesticides, majority (83%) of them reported that they have never attained any training on the proper handling and application of chemicals suggesting a need for trainings to farmers on how to handle pesticides. Key words: Rice, scheme, insect, management.
Highlights
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food of over half the world's population which its demand is increasing in many countries (Hegde and Vijayalaxmi, 2013)
This study was conducted in five randomly selected rice schemes in Morogoro region to obtain information on farmers’ knowledge, attitude and practice in respect to management strategies undertaken for controlling insect pests both in rice fields and stores as an aid to reduce crop loss
The study was conducted in three districts of Morogoro region from October to December, 2014 where five rice schemes were selected, namely, Mvumi and Ilonga schemes located in Kilosa district, Mkindo scheme located in Mvomero district, and Kiroka and Mbarangwe schemes located in Morogoro rural district
Summary
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food of over half the world's population which its demand is increasing in many countries (Hegde and Vijayalaxmi, 2013). It has been reported as the fundamental principal food supplying 20% of the calories consumed worldwide (Kubo and Purevdorj, 2004; Liu et al, 2010). Regarding to rice production in East, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) region, Tanzania has been reported as the second largest producer and consumer after Madagascar (Benard et al, 2014; URT, 2009). Generation (Mwingira et al, 2009), farmers practice rain-fed and irrigated rice farming
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