Abstract
Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) production and storage are limited by numerous constraints. Insect pests are often the most destructive. However, resource-constrained smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) often do little to manage pests. Where farmers do use a control strategy, it typically relies on chemical pesticides, which have adverse effects on the wildlife, crop pollinators, natural enemies, mammals, and the development of resistance by pests. Nature-based solutions -in particular, using biological control agents with sustainable approaches that include biopesticides, resistant varieties, and cultural tools-are alternatives to chemical control. However, significant barriers to their adoption in SSA include a lack of field data and knowledge on the natural enemies of pests, safety, efficacy, the spectrum of activities, the availability and costs of biopesticides, the lack of sources of resistance for different cultivars, and spatial and temporal inconsistencies for cultural methods. Here, we critically review the control options for bean pests, particularly the black bean aphid (Aphis fabae) and pod borers (Maruca vitrata). We identified natural pest regulation as the option with the greatest potential for this farming system. We recommend that farmers adapt to using biological control due to its compatibility with other sustainable approaches, such as cultural tools, resistant varieties, and biopesticides for effective management, especially in SSA.
Highlights
The challenge for agriculture today and in the thirty years is implementing sustainable and ideally carbon zero farming that is economically viable and resilient to future shocks, including the changing climate
Natural pest regulation (NPR) is an approach to pest management that relies on beneficial insects and biological approaches
Biopesticides are natural products or microorganisms that act as alternatives to conventional pesticides and are nonpersistent in the environment, reducing the harmful effects of conventional pest control that rely on synthetic products [21,132,133,134,135]
Summary
The challenge for agriculture today and in the thirty years is implementing sustainable and ideally carbon zero farming that is economically viable and resilient to future shocks, including the changing climate. This is important in Africa, where 19.1% of the population was undernourished in 2019 [1], and farmers are increasingly negatively affected by climate change. There has been much research on developing these sustainable pest management options, there are few field-ready options targeted at or developed for smallholder farmers, especially in SSA and for M. vitrata and A. fabae, which cause major yield losses (Table 1). Table 1. the empirically assessed bean yield losses attributed to black bean aphid (Aphis fabae) and bean pod borer (Maruca vitrata) in East African countries per year
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