icipe Push Pull Farming System
This is week 2 of my 8 week internship with icipe in Kenya. This week I studied the Push-Pull technology that was developed at the International Centre of Insect Phycology and Ecology (icipe) in 1998. This farming system is becoming known around the world for being very effective to sustain agriculture in Sub Sahara Africa. This farming system has a complex structure that fights off striga weeds, stemborers and the famous fall army worms. The striga weed stunts the crop by intertwining the roots to hijack all its nutrients and the stemborers and fall army worms attack and kill the crops by eating its way through the plant. It may sound like a complicated procedure to protect the fields but, they break each part of the system down to where anybody can quickly understand.
Before icipe developed and introduced the push-pull farming system, farmers were not harvesting enough to feed their families because of the crops low survival rate. Farmers would also struggle to feed their livestock a healthy diet, affecting their quality of production. This gave little to no income to support their family for education, and basic needs to survive. So many families in Africa look for second jobs, including the children to provide the necessities.
The Push and The Pull
You maybe wonder how one farming system can solve all these problems, well it all starts with planting season. By planting a legume called desmodium in between the rows of the cereal crop. The desmodium will then release a chemical smell to push away the striga weed from germinating and the stemborers including the fall army worms from eating away the crop. Desmodium also restores the nitrogen levels of the soil and retains the moisture levels as well. Next, farmers will plant either Napier or Brachiera grass around the border of the field to pull in the stemborer and fall army worm moths to lay their eggs away from the plants by releasing a chemical smell. These grasses will then kill the lave so they can not develop into moths and attack other neighboring fields. Together these plants will provide high crop yields, protection from climate change and provide high in nutrient fodder for livestock to feed on. Thus gives the farmers food for their families, increases livestock production and have a surplus to sell at markets to earn an income.
This week was a lot of taking in information and processing how I would incorporate the information in my own research. Studying and processing the push-pull technology made me more aware of how important sustainable agriculture is for the livelihood's of families in this world. I can not wait to start my research project and meet with farmers to hear their experiences before and after using the push- pull farming system.
-Renee Piekema
