Farmer indigenous experimentation for pest management under yam cultivation farming system in the humid ecological zone of Nigeria

Abstract

In spite of major thrust by research to increase agricultural production through the introduction of and use of scientific agricultural technologies, it is evident that most practices used by peasant yam growers to control and manage natural enemies to yam production consist of indigenous techniques borne of farmers experimentation. Yet, little information is available in an easily understandable form, on these cultural practices of local farmers. In Nigeria, pest constitutes one of the most pressing constraints to crop production, but farmers have built up tremendous knowledge on indigenous ways of controlling pests. The result of the studies conducted among yam farmers in some selected states of Nigeria revealed that the farmers, through their indigenous knowledge had developed botanical pesticides, using extracts of seeds and fruit of trees, wood ashes and other materials to control pests. This paper presents some field results of farmers’ experimentation with regard to pests’ management under yam cultivation farming systems within the humid ecological zone of Nigeria.