The highs and lows of cowpea IPM

High and low technologies are being used to promote integrated pest management for cowpeas through IITA's PEDUNE programme. Set up in 1997, PEDUNE (Protection ecologiquement durable du niébé) aims to increase cowpea production and productivity in the Sahel and African savannas by devising ecologically and economically sustainable cowpea pest control methods which can be implemented by subsistence farmers.

Traditional varieties of cowpeas are popular with subsistence farmers as an intercrop with cereals such as sorghum. In addition to dishes prepared from dry grain, peas, pods and leaves are eaten as fresh vegetables. But most traditional varieties have a ground creeping aspect that is particularly susceptible to insect pests (e.g. aphids and bruchids), diseases (e.g. bacterial blight) and parasitic weeds (e.g. Striga). Yields are therefore low unless repeated applications and high quantities of pesticides are used.

To combat low yields, efficient pest control technologies, which include the use of IPM techniques and resistant, higher-yielding varieties, have been developed over the last 15 years by IITA in collaboration with several National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS). But several surveys conducted by the NARS revealed that, until 1994, most of these technologies were yet to be adopted by farmers. A pilot phase of PEDUNE was initiated in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Niger and Nigeria in order to overcome this and, after two years of encouraging results, the project has been expanded to include Cameroon, Ghana, Mali and Senegal. On-farm trials have been used to validate promising technologies such as solar drying for improving storage, and the use of botanical pesticides in the field and during storage.

However, for more effective dissemination of these technologies, IITA-PEDUNE has identified the need for trainers to establish and run national cowpea IPM-Farmer Field Schools (FFS). It is intended that the action learning approach used in FFS will lead to improved adaptation of researcher and farmer generated technologies. The first Regional Training of Trainers workshop was held at Tamale, in northern Ghana during July-September 1999, with 27 senior extension officers and technicians from the nine countries. However, future efforts will require the support of each government if Farmer Field Schools are to be sustained.

Training and support for cowpea IPM is also to be made available over the Internet. With financial support from Switzerland, PEDUNet has been established with the experience developed through AfricaLink (which was created and is supported by USAID to provide scientific information electronically available to African NARS), to pioneer electronic networking for the IITA-PEDUNE project across West, Central and Southern Africa. National programme scientists have clustered their research into appropriate themes, identified associated technical needs, and are establishing an electronic discussion forum to improve the exchange of information and expertise. PEDUNet's aim for training is to establish community information centres within national extension systems where material can be downloaded from the Internet and used on farms across the region. The concept is to be tested.

Through PEDUNet, it is intended that a greater number of individuals will be linked in the network from which they will be able to draw on subject-matter specialists, information resources and technical support in order to strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of IPM research.

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