Characterization of Farmer's knowledge and management practices of papaya mealybug Paracoccus magnatus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in Tanzania.

Autor:	Mwanauta RW; School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering (LiSBE), Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania.; Tropical Pesticide Research Institute (TPRI), P.O. BOX 3024, Arusha, Tanzania., Ndakidemi PA; School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering (LiSBE), Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania., Venkataramana PB; School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering (LiSBE), Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Saudi journal of biological sciences [Saudi J Biol Sci] 2022 May; Vol. 29 (5), pp. 3539-3545. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Feb 28.
DOI:	10.1016/j.sjbs.2022.02.037
Abstrakt:	Papaya mealybug (PMB) is a serious insect pest for papaya production in Sub-Saharan Africa, limiting production potential in farming communities. We did a household survey to evaluate the Characteristics of farmers' knowledge, challenges, and current (PMB) control practices in four papaya growing regions of Tanzania namely, Tanga, Dodoma, Pwani, and Katavi involving 100 papaya farmers. The study found that 96% of farmers reported PMB, as a major challenge in papaya production. Very few (0.8%) of the farmers were knowledgeable on insect pest identification. Chemical pesticides were the only option for PMB control, and 43.0% of farmers were able to access and apply. We also found that 36.4% of the farmers were aware of the adverse effects of chemical pesticides. Furthermore, the study observed that 0.3% of farmers use botanical pesticides. Additionally, the study observed that 44.1% of farmers use control measures against PMB, the remaining 55.9% did not practice any control measure, thus leading to low papaya yields observed in the study regions. Our findings provide insights to farmers into the use of plant-based pesticides, mainly plant essential oils, and its benefits that may promote farmers' attitudes towards increasing papaya yield and reducing chemical pesticide use to avoid pest resistance. Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. (© 2022 The Author(s).)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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