Abstract
The main purpose of the study was to assess the population growth of the invasive pest Tuta absoluta within Loitokitok district, Kajiado County in Kenya. The study used primary data that was collected from the experiment. The experiment was conducted to assess the population growth of Tuta absoluta. The study showed a variation on the number of Tuta absoluta collected from the protected and unprotected plants when Chlorantraniliprole was used to protect the plants from infestation. The results showed that the total mean number of larvae collected weekly during the period ranged from 1.3±0.6 to 20.8±3.4 in the protected plants and from 4.3±0.6 to 51.7±2.1 in the unprotected plants. Keywords: Tuta absoluta , Tomato, Population growth, Loitokitok Kajiado County-Kenya. DOI : 10.7176/JBAH/9-22-04 Publication date: November 30 th 2019
Highlights
The horticultural sector directly and indirectly employs over six million Kenyans thereby reducing the poverty levels within the country
4.1 Population growth of Tuta absoluta recorded on tomato plants
5.0 Discussion Loitokitok registered high number of larval populations of Tuta absoluta due to the favorable environmental conditions within the area and presence of alternative hosts that can allow the pest to complete its life cycle when tomatoes are not in season. da Silva Krechemer and Foerster (2015) reported that temperature has a significant effect on larval survival rates of T. absoluta which is 80.8% at 25±2oC
Summary
The horticultural sector directly and indirectly employs over six million Kenyans thereby reducing the poverty levels within the country. According to Ongeri (2014), the horticulture sector employs close to 2.5 million people both in the formal and informal horticultural setups. The sector consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts, flowers, aromatic and medicinal plants. Fruits are very vital in daily supply of minerals and vitamins (Preedy, 2008). The livelihood of most of the Kenyan rural population depend majorly on the agricultural sector, which is crucial to food security and poverty reduction. The horticultural sector has six subsectors including, industrial crops, livestock, food crops, horticulture, forestry and fisheries. The horticultural sector has grown tremendously becoming one of the major employer, foreign exchange earner, and ensures food security within the country
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