Assessment of agricultural pest status and available control methods in the Guinea natural resources management project : approaches to integrated pest management

This report contains the results of a 21-day mission to the project"s target watersheds of Dissa, Koundou, and Diafore to assess pest incidence (especially termites and pest of stored products) and pesticide use, and to recommend an integrated pest management strategy. Primarily the report found that (1) Dissa and Koundou were most afflicted by grasshoppers (which infested vegetable gardens) and storage pests (e.g., the maize weevil, larger and lesser grain beetle, angoumois moth, and cowpea weevil); (2) secondary pests included weaver ants (orange and mango trees), fruit flies (vegetables), cotton stainers (rice), bollworms (orange fruit), and mealybugs (cassava); (3) the use of chemical pesticides was rare and usually a component of a broad donor-based initiative; (4) local pest control entailed only the mechanical control of termites and stored products pests, supplemented with botanical and traditional plant treatments; (5) information on pesticides was difficult to obtain, even for government agents; (6) pesticide storage facilities were inadequate; and (7) Guinea had no landfills appropriate for pesticide disposal. The report proposes an integrated pest management strategy which calls for the least toxic means of termite control; mechanical destruction and chemical treatment of termite mounds; measures to protect seeds and seedlings; physical barriers to exclude termites from dwellings (e.g., sand barriers, the use of transmission oil or cow manure on fences and building materials, concrete walls and floors, and Nere pods on roofs); sound storage practices; pest and pesticide education for farmers; and technical training for plant protection agents.