SEC | S20W3:"Identification and Elimination of Crop Pests"
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I count it a privilege to participate in this week's task, I've been looking forward to a time such as this to be part of what is going on here but it seems I've been very engaged. Thank God He made it possible for me to finally make an entry into this week's task.
The subject of pest and pest control on the farm is a very key subject and must be taken serious if not, one might run into huge loss as a farmer because the goal of these pests is simple, they only want to destroy everything you have laboured for but with the knowledge we are equipped with here, we would be able to stop them in their track.
I will be attempting the homework task using the guidelines given and I really do hope I attempt this just the way my teacher would love and find really interesting. Let me get right into the business of the day.
I will be using our little garden as my case study for this homework task. We have all manner of plants in our garden including yam which is near maturity. When I visited the garden two day ago, I discovered another attack on the plant in the garden, of course we already know what has been coming around to destroy our plant.
The last time, the same destroyer came to dig up every corn seed we planted around garden. It was so precise that one would think it was in hiding watching everywhere we dug and put in the corn seed. It was in the night it came to dig out almost everything, eating it and leaving just few. This time it came for our yam. What pest am I talking about, am talking about a rodent called bush Rat. They are not the kind that stays at home, they stay in the bush and are much more bigger than the rats in the house, having a whitish colour at the end of their tail. Another fascinating thing is that when trapped and killed like we have done on two occasion, it end up in our pot of soup... smiles.
Above is the water yam it ate halfway, it didn't have to dig far before it got hold of it as it was almost appearing at the surface, hence the easy access the bush rat had in devouring it. The annoying part was that it just ate it anyhow, it should have finish it all, I mean who will eat the left over...lols. we had to did it out and cover the heap where we removed it. This destroyer (pest) falls into the category of rodents, rodents are not insect and they are more subtle than insect, they seem to be more advanced in their act and sense than insect for this reason, special care and strategy is needed to hunt them down. However I would also like to make reference to the solution preferred by our teacher when dealing with rodent and that is....
The above formular is a chemical approach to eliminating and controlling the category of pest called rodents. • Shooting: this is one of the viable means of controlling rodents on the farm. You could use a gun to shoot them and if your do not have a gun, you should go for a catapult. This is also viable, you only need to be sure they are around and then you shoot them on target, if you're fortunate to hit them, you have a bush meat to yourself...lol
• Setting of Trap: If You're not skilled in the area of shooting or using your catapult, you can get trap and set it in area where you must have observed as the entry path of these rodent and set the trap exactly in that area. This has personally worked for us as we have used trap in killing two of these rabbit in the past. • Scarecrow: Scarecrow is another viable way of scaring rodent on the farm. It was specifically designed to scare crow just as the name implies but from observation, it does beyond that on the farm. Just by a little movement of wind the scarecrow could ward off these pest because they assume it a human being on the farm.
• Poisoning: This is another method one can also use in controlling these category of pest. Rodents are also sensible creatures by the time they visit and start dying, they would stay off and distance themselves from the farm. I have seen this work severally. There was a time I worked in a poultry farm and wild rat infested the poultry, eating our young birds. I had to resort to poisoning these wild rats using indosid which resulted to the death on tens of them and this warded off the rest. Insect are very devastating when dealing with crops in the farm, they are some that pierce, there are some that chew, some other bore...to the end that they destroy whatever it is you've planted. The annoying part is that they come in their numbers, before you realize it, they have finished destroying your farm. They can also be dealt with using any of the aforementioned means according to the lesson, I mean chemical means or biological means. With the introduction of biochemical method according to the lecture, getting rid of these insect has even become more easier and safer because the crop itself will be saved in the process of controlling the pest. Neem is one of the viable ways of controlling these insects, I have personally tried it before, it's a proven strategy that works like fire, so when I saw it mentioned, I just nodded my head in agreement. However according to what is required of me in this section, I would talk about how to create a pest trap that would trap insect around the farm. I will like to talk about the Sticky Trap among several other trap. It's quite easy to make and less expensive as you could use material you already have around you to make them. • A container (wide Bowl/Slightly flat surface container) • Attractant. • Sticky Substance (light gum, Vaseline , petroleum Jelly. • A rope for hanging it strategically (optional) • Step1: Get your container ready in any form mentioned above. • Step2: Apply your attractant which could be inform of a sweet smell or do a little research on what attract the kind of insect you want to deal with. • Step3: Apply your sticky substance. This is the substance that gets the insect stuck to the container after being lured or attracted. • Step 4: Position it in a very strategic area in the farm, you could hang it using a rope in this area for easy access.
This visual representation of my explanation is not my image, it was gotten online solely for educational purpose and have been duly referenced. Biochemical seem to be the most suitable way of controlling these pest especially insect on the farm. The reason why it seems preferred is because of it numerous advantage which include the following below. • It doesn't affect crop quality and productivity when applied on the crop. • They are natural, in other words they are derive from natural substances in our environment. Example is the neem leaf which I've tried personally. • It has positive impact on our environment in that it doesn't pollute the oxygen in the air. This is a plus to both plant, animals and human. Now to the main question which states that we mention crops on which biochemical can be applied. Biochemical can be applied on almost every field crops. The one I personal used it on was our vegetables like • pumpkin It did ward off the insects that were disturbing the plant on the farm and of course am recommending it to every farmer. On a more broader level we have a common classification which I would like to share before narrowing it down to some common household pesticides and the pest it controls. Here is it.
Having shared the above, I would like to narrow down this subject to pesticides and the particular pest they control.
The above is just to mention but a few. However adequate caution needs to be taken when applying these pesticide, although some of them are not really a threat but then prevention is always a better option when engaging these chemicals. Preventive measures include using of gloves, avoiding exposure, keeping away from the reach of children, keep to the instructions on how to use the pesticide. I will love to wrap it up here. I hope I have been able to attempt all the question in this homework task. I will be looking forward to a warm review from my teacher. Thanks for the opportunity to learn from you. Gracias! I will love to invite @radleking @okere-blessing and @rakiya Regards |
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Observations and suggestions:
Did you just see mice while inspecting the crop field? Did you just see mice while inspecting the crop field? A visit usually reveals many types of insects you could name. Loved the hand block technique. Rats are caught using arrows in our area. The pesticides and fungicides used in your area are used in almost all countries. Hoping to have a good entry in your next post.
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