Knowledge of extension officers on pest management in Horticulture in Thulamela Local Municipality in Vhembe District of Limpopo Province

Abstract

This paper focuses on the knowledge of the extension officers on pest management in horticulture in Thulamela municipality - Vhembe district. The study was conducted among 31 extension officers who were selected based on their speciality for dealing with crop production issues in the Thulamela municipality. The study revealed that most of the respondents had some shortcomings in different areas of their expertise such as limited knowledge of different pest management strategies (e.g. cultural control, biological control, and Integrated Pest Management). The majority (71%) of the respondents chose chemicals as a way for controlling pests, this is a cause of concern as it depicts their limited knowledge of other control methods (e.g. cultural, Integrated Pest Management, and biological) that are used to control pests. A small number of only 3.2% of the respondents knew the role that is played by natural enemies (biological control) in the management of pests. The study had the following recommendations, firstly, there is a need for agricultural extension officers to be regularly trained on pest management so that they can be up to date with new technology on plant protection issues. Secondly, there is a strong need to train agricultural extension officers on how to conduct pest surveillance, this will enable them to detect and manage pests on time.