First Africa Congress on Conservation

Agriculture Lusaka, ZAMBIA

18-21 March 2014

Zeyaur Khan1, John Pickett2, Charles Midega1 and

Jimmy Pittchar1

1International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya 2Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, United Kingdom

www.push-pull.net

Climate-smart push-pull: A conservation agriculture technology for food security and

environmental sustainability in Africa

HUNGER AND

POVERTY IN

AFRICA • Africa faces increasingly serious problems in its ability to

feed its rapidly growing population, resulting in high hunger and poverty incidences.

• Africa’s productivity is the lowest in the world (around 1t/ha compared with 2.4t/ha in South Asia, 3.2t/ha in Latin America and 4.5t/ha in East Asia and Pacific)

• The major production constraints are pests, weeds and degraded soils.

• Ecologically sustainable growth in agricultural productivity is essential to end hunger and poverty and ensure food security, by naturally reducing incidence of the major constraints to productivity

Maize worth US$ 1.5b is lost annually due to stemborers in

SSA

Chilo partellus

Busseola fusca

24% of the total maize cropping area in SSA is infested with

Striga. Value of maize lost due to Striga is at least US$ 1.2 b

What is ‘Push-Pull’ Strategy?

The ‘Push-Pull’ strategy is a novel approach in pest management which uses a repellent intercrop and an attractive trap plant. Insect pests are repelled

from the food crop and are simultaneously attracted to a trap crop.

Attract naturalenemies

Moths are pushed away

Attract moths

Trap Crop

Main Crop

Cook, Khan and Pickett (2007) Annu. Rev. Entomol. 52 : 375-400

Push-Pull Strategy

1= (E)-ß-ocimene;

2= α-terpinolene;

3= β-caryophyllene;

4= humulene;

5= (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-

nonatriene;

6= α-cedrene;

7= hexanal;

8= (E)-2-hexenal;

9= (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol;

10= (Z)-3-hexen-1-yl acetate ;

11= 5,7,2′,4′-tetrahydroxy-6-(3-

methylbut-2-enyl)isoflavanone

(uncinanone A);

12= 4′′,5′′-dihydro-5,2′,4′-

trihydroxy-5′′-isopropenylfurano-

(2′′,3′′;7,6)-isoflavanone

(uncinanone B); 13= 4′′,5′′-

dihydro-2′-

methoxy-5,4′-dihydroxy-5′′-

isopropenylfurano-(2′′,3′′;7,6)-

isoflavanone (uncinanone

C), 14= di-C-glycosylflavone 6-

C-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-8-C-β-

Dglucopyranosylapigenin

Benefits of Push-Pull Technology

Sustainable Development

Gender & Social Equity

Stemborers

and striga

control

Increased

fodder

production

N-fixation

and reduced

soil erosion

Increased

forage seed

production

Conservation

of biodiversity

Increased

crop yields

Improved

cattle

health

Improved

soil health

Increased

household

income

Technological

Empowerment of farmers

Improved

human health

Empowerment

of women

Improved

dairy

production

Improved

FYM

Production

NITROGEN FIXATION WITH VARIOUS

INTERCROPS AFTER THREE YEARS

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

Maize Monocrop Maize +

Desmodium

Maize + Soybean Maize + Sunhemp Maize + Cowpea

Intercrops

To

tal N

(g

) / 250 g

So

il

a

b

b b b

Khan et al. 2006. Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems, CRC Press

On-Farm Validation of ‘Push-Pull’

Technology (n=420)

Khan et al. 2008. Field Crops Research 106: 224-233

5

10

15

20

25

0

100

200

300

400

500

0

1

2

3

4

2003 2004 2005 2006

30

No. of emerged striga/63 maize plants

% stemborer damaged plants

Maize Yields (t/ha)

*

****

****

** *

Maize monocrop fields

Push-pull fields

Integrating push-pull with livestock production Integration with livestock

Adaptation of Push-Pull to Climate

Change

With funding by

European Union,

we have adapted

the push-pull

technology to the

increasingly dry

and hot

conditions

associated with

climate change

in Africa to

ensure its long

term

sustainability.

SELECTION OF NEW DROUGHT

TOLERANT COMPANION PLANTS

Brachiaria cv mulato

Vetiver grass

Screening for drought tolerant companion plants for use

in adapted push-pull for drier areas of Africa

Desmodium intortum

D. ramosissimum

D. incanum

Research into New drought tolerant African Desmodium spp.

D. repandum

CLIMATE-SMART PUSH-PULL

A healthy sorghum crop under climate-adapted push-pull. D. intortum suppresses striga

and stemborers by up to 100% and 70% respectively in sorghum, resulting in significant

yield increases, from less than 1t/ha to about 3.2t/ha.

CLIMATE-SMART PUSH-PULL

Increased yield as striga and stemborer controlled

in sorghum and millet

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

Adapted Push-Pull

Control Adapted Push-Pull

Control

Maize plot Sorghum plot

Yie

ld, K

g/h

a

First season on-farm results of maize and sorghum yields from push-pull plots

planted with the drought tolerant companion plants: Brachiaria c.v.Mulato II as

the trap plant and Greenleaf desmodium as the intercrop plant.

Farmers’ Perceptions of ADOPT

Push-pull Technology Adoption

About 18,000 of the adopters planted climate-adapted

push-pull by December 2013

Climate-smart push-pull addresses multiple constraints

Major constraints How Push-pull addresses Constraints

Low soil fertility Increased nitrogen fixation by the intercrop

Degraded land Control soil erosion; increased organic matter and soil physical

properties

The parasitic striga

weed Striga control by the intercrop, striga seed depletion

Stemborer pests Effective stemborer control by companion plants, and natural

enemies

Moisture stress Soil moisture conservation, improved water holding capacity by

intercrops

Low crop yields Increased cereal yields (maize from 1 to 3.5t/ha; sorghum 0.8t to

2t/ha; millet 0.4t to 0.8t/ha)

Shortage of livestock

fodder

All year round quality fodder from the trap and intercrop plants

leading to improved milk production

Loss of biodiversity Increased abundance and diversity of beneficial organisms

Shortage of labour Reduced labour requirement for land preparation and weed

control

Developing long term sustainability and system

resilience

•We make the best use of locally adapted crop varieties and

livestock breeds through their management;

•We harness agro-ecological processes such as biological

nitrogen fixation, allelopathy, predation and parasitism;

•We avoid the unnecessary use of external inputs;

•We minimise the use of practices that have adverse

impacts on the environment and human health;

•We make productive use of human capital - knowledge and

capacity to adapt and innovate as well as social capital to

resolve common landscape-scale problems.

Technological, environmental and socio-economic

interactions

Science & technology • Improved crops

• improved agro-ecological management

Environment • soils

• water

• climate

• biodiversity

Social and economic factors

• producers

• consumers

• farmers

• health

• livelihoods

• markets

• Institutions, infrastructure, policies

• Globalisation

Understand farmers, their systems

Building system productivity, outputs and resilience

Technology scaling up options and pathways

Human capacity

Impact

Constraints on production

Yield increase impacts

Technological solutions to environmental stresses

Social impacts of environmental change

Environmental impacts of choices

Sustainable Green Revolution in Africa ?

A green revolution in Africa will come from adoption of simple, environmentally sustainable and low cost platform technologies like push-pull, which are developed by understanding and exploiting basic and applied sciences. These technologies will address food security and livelihood of smallholders without requiring extra resources for crop protection and soil improvement and without causing any ecological and social harm.

THANK YOU

Conservation methods for better livelihoods, better future…