Integrated Pest Management

Humanity has mistreated the countryside due to the excessive use of pesticides, causing a devastating effect on the food chain (eliminating the natural predators of some pests) and an accumulation of harmful agents in the water, soil, air and, consequently, in the food. The incorporation of these chemical elements into nature caused the loss of different forms of life. As an example, we have organochlorine compounds that remain in the environment for more than 30 years and have a cumulative effect in the body of a mammal, mainly in fatty tissues, causing lung, colon, and skin cancer, among others. Pests are a critical threat to agricultural activity and integrated pest management helps farmers face and mitigate these risks. This approach is based on the use of various techniques together, it is a very effective solution against this kind of problem. The importance of integrated pest management lies in the elimination of aggressive chemical methods to minimize damage to people and the environment, using instead other natural and safer options, contributing to sustainable agriculture. There are dissimilar ways to carry out an Integrated Pest Management successfully, which include, for example: Cultural Control: The cultural variant of integrated pest management in crops includes the following techniques: soil treatment; selection of suitable plants; crop rotation; intercropping or strip cropping; choice of planting dates; weed control; use of trap plants. Physical and Mechanical Control: This method includes: Manual removal, traps, barriers, pruning and raking, irrigation management, heat and steam treatment. Biological control: Among the types of integrated pest management, this method seeks ways to destroy pests through predators, parasitoids, pathogens, and other biological control agents (also known as antagonistic organisms). The function of biological control is to cause a minimum imbalance in ecosystems by imitating nature. Integrated pest management through biological control is similar to natural processes, but there is no human intervention in them. There are a large number of countries that have declared IPM as the preferred approach to crop protection and are supporting technical training at the field level through National IPM Programs and Farmer Field Schools. These programs increasingly have financial support from local and national governments. In the last👇 Chemical Control: This integrated pest management group applies natural or synthetic chemicals to repel or eradicate pests. Biopesticides are natural repellents that contain plant extracts or oils, making them the safest option for humans, animals, and crops. This information shows that chemical control is the last resort for Inegrated Pest Management

MANAGING GRAIN IN STORAGE

HOW GRAIN BECOMES INFESTED Grain may become infested in a number of ways. In many grain-growing regions. infestation starts in the field before the crops are harvested. This is. Of course, particularly true in the South. where the rice weevil and other insects are abundant in the field at harvesttime, and in the soft red winter wheat region of the Eastern States, where the Angoumois grain moth is often extremely destructive. In the more northern States that experience severe winters. Field infestation is negligible. In addition to field infestation. which may he important (depending on the region or the season). there are several othersources of infestation of stored grain that are of considerable importance. In all regions, it is customary to store grain year after year in the same bins. If these bins are made of wood, cracks and crevices become filled with grain dust and broken grain and afford places of concealment for many insects. Insects such as the cadelle burrow into the wooden sides or floors to pupate and later emerge in enormous numbers. Grain bins are not always properly cleaned; hence, fresh grain stored in them quickly becomes infested. Storing bran, shorts, and other milled feeds in or near the granary is another cause of infestation, since these products are invariably infested. Many bins, too, are located in barns that normally contain products in which insects breed. Temporary storage of grain in country or crib elevators frequently adds to the danger of infestation. Such storage is difficult to keep free from infestation, and clean grain often becomes contaminated by infested grain brought to the same place. Grain may also become infested while moving it in railroad boxcars to terminal elevators. Many grain-infesting insects live in the grain dust and waste grain that accumulate in cracks of the floors or woodwork and in the linings of the boxcars. Storage of clean grain in ware-houses and elevators that already contain infested grain also results in contamination through the movement of insects from the infested grain to the clean grain. Before shipment, uninfested grain should not be placed in sacks previously used for grain storage because these old sacks often harbor insects, as shown in figure 21, unless they have been sterilized by heat or fumigation. Certain extensive and costly infestations have been traced directly to the use of secondhand, infested, untreated grain sacks. Grain stored in open or poorly constructed cribs or bins may become infested by insects flying in from the outside. HOW TO PREVENT OR REDUCE PRIMARY INFESTATION Adoption of the combine harvester has reduced field infestation of small grain to a negligible amount. To prevent infestation after harvest, it is recommended that producers take the following steps: (1) Store only dry grain in weather-tight, rodent-proof bins, preferably made of steel; (2) clean out all bins before loading with grain; (3) spray the walls and floors of wooden bins and around the door frames of metal bins; (4) clean up and dispose of litter, waste grain, and feed accumulations in and around farm buildings; (5) apply protective powder, or spray, directly to grain as it is binned, or fumigate promptly after binning; and (6) inspect the bins monthly and fumigate if an infestation is discovered. In the North Central States, exposure to winter weather in most years kills off infestations in ear corn stored on the farm; hence, the loss from insect attack is not significant if the corn is to be used for feed during the ensuing season. Following mild winters, the Angoumois grain moth may he destructive, so under such conditions. it is well to shell corn in May and store it in tight bins. In the Southern States, field infestation can he reduced by: (1) Growing corn varieties with tight shucks those are semi-resistant to field infestation; (2) disposing of infested grain in farm storages before the corn reaches the silking stage; (3) early harvesting; (4) applying a protectant; (5) drying and shelling; and (6) storing the corn in tight bins suitable for fumigation. Information regarding the prevention or reduction of grain infestation is contained in other publications of the Department of Agriculture. SOURCE https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/StoredGrainInsectsReference2017.pdf

Effects of Fermentation Periods and Drying Methods on Postharvest Quality of Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao) Beans in Ghana

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jfq/2022/7871543/

Impact of storage practices and pest on the quality of cocoa beans in warehouses in Brofoyedru Cocoa District of Ghana

https://www.bluepenjournals.org/ijaar/pdf/2022/July/Boateng_et_al.pdf

Consuming What You Produce: Perception and Consumption Habits of Cocoa-based Products byCocoa Farmers in the Eastern Region of Ghana https://ijras.org/administrator/components/com_jresearch/files/publications/IJRAS_1009_FINAL.pdf http://ijras.org/administrator/components/com_jresearch/files/publications/IJRAS_1009_FINAL.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3ZNFR6W2BhJ8mqd-7S8viwOdy3fCiuQm8PAnw6YUFxjqFnf22-9RBsOuI

Impact of Production Inputs and Timing on Crackness of Rice in Northern Ghana

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ija/2021/9982911/

COCOA INSECT PEST IN GHANA

Coleoptera Anobiidae Lasioderma serricorne (Fabricius) Anthribidae Araecerus fasciculatus Degeer Cerambycidae Armatosterna buquiteana White Glenea giraffa Dalm. Mallodon downesi Hope Tragocephala castnia Thoms. Tragocephala gorilla Thoms. Tragocephala nobilis (F.) Chrysomelidae Menius fulvicornis Jac. Menius parvulus Jac. Ootheca mutabilis (Sahlberg) Cucujidae Ahasverus advena (Waltl) Cryptolestes pusillus (Schönherr) Curculionidae Syntaphocerus pusillus Pasc. Mycetophagidae Typhaea stercorea (L.) Nitidulidae Brachypeplus pilosellus Murr. Carpophilus dimidiatus (Fabricius) Platypodidae Platypus mordax Samps. Pselaphidae Fustigerodes formicarius Bry. Scarabaeidae Adoretus umbrosus (F.) Niphobleta niveosparsa Kraatz Scolytidae Hypothenemus ater Egg. Hypothenemus mozambiquensis Egg. Hypothenemus pusillus Egg. Xyleborus morstatti Hag. Xyleborus nitidipennis Schedl. Xyleborus perforans (Woll.) Xyleborus urichi Sampson Xylosandrus compactus Eichoff Silvanidae Oryzaephilus mercator (Fauvel) Tenebrionidae Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) Diptera Tephritidae Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) Heteroptera Coreidae Cletomorpha lancigera F. Cletus unifasciatus Blöte Homoeocerus pallens (F.) Leptoglossus australis (Fab.) Pseudotheraptus devastans (Dist.) Miridae Bryocoropsis laticollis Schum. Distantiella theobroma (Dist.) Helopeltis bergrothi Reut. Helopeltis westwoodi (White) Sahlbergella singularis Hagl. Pentatomidae Bathycoelia thalassina Homoptera Aphididae Abgrallaspis cyanophylli (Sign.) Aphis gossypii Glover Toxoptera aurantii Boyer Cicadellidae Jacobiella facialis (Jacobi) Coccidae Coccus viridis (Green) Farinococcus loranthi Strickland Formicococcus tafoensis Strickland Geococcus coffeae Green Hemiberlesia palmae (Morgan and Ckll.) Newsteadia wacri Strickland Paracoccus proteae (Hall) Paraputo ritchiei Laing Pulvinaria aristolochiae Newst. Rhizoecus spelaea (Strickland) Saissetia subhirsuta (Newst.) Tylococcus westwoodi Strickland Derbidae Kamendaka albomaculata Muir. Proutista tessellata (Westw.) Diaspididae Aonidiella replicata (Lind.) Aspidiotus destructor Sign. Stictococcus sjostedtii Ckll. Margarodidae Icerya nigroareolata Newst. Membracidae Bocchar montanus Jac. Gargara addahensis Dist. Gargara fraterna Dist. Pseudococcidae Dysmicoccus brevipes (Cockerell) Ferrisia virgata (Cockerell) Phenacoccus hagreavesi (Laing) Planococcoides njalensis (Laing) Planococcus celtis (Strickland) Planococcus citri (Risso) Pseudococcus adonidum (L.) Pseudococcus concavocerarii James Pseudococcus fragilis Brain Pseudococcus hargreavesi Laing Pseudococcus masakensis James Psyllidae Mesohomotoma tessmanni (Aulm.) Ricaniidae Epitemna carbonaria Wlk. Ricania cervina Mel. Ricania tenebrosa Wlk. Ricanopsis nebulosa F. Ricanopsis semihyalina Mel. Stictococcidae Stictococcus dimorphus Newst. Stictococcus diversiseta Silv. Stictococcus gowdeyi Newst. Stictococcus intermedius Newst. Stictococcus multispinosus Newst. Hymenoptera Formicidae Crematogaster striatula Emery Macromischoides aculeatus (Mayr.) Isoptera Termitidae Macrotermes bellicosus (Smeath.) Lepidoptera Arctiidae Diacrisia aurantiaca Holl. Diacrisia curvilinea (Wlk.) Diacrisia rattrayi Roths. Rodogastria luteibarba Hmps. Cossidae Eulophonotus myrmeleon Fldr. Geometridae Colocleora divisaria Wlk. Hyposidra smithi Warr. Lasiocampidae Leipoxais rufobrunnea Strand Limacodidae Parasa viridissima Holl. Semyrilla lineata Holl. Noctuidae Achaea catocaloides Gn. Achaea janata Achaea lienardi (Boisd.) Anomis leona (Schaus.) Characoma stictograpta Hmps. Earias biplaga Walker Eudrapa mollis Wlk. Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) Nymphalidae Acraea pharsalus Ward. Acraea rogersi Hew. Pyralidae Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) Ephestia cautella Walker Plodia interpunctella (Hb.) Tortricidae Archips occidentalis Walsm. Cryptophlebia leucotreta (Meyrick) Orthoptera Pyrgomorphidae Zonocerus variegatus (L.) Thysanoptera Klinothrips femoralis Bagn. Lamillothrips pennicollis Bagn. Lamillothrips typicus Bagn. Thripidae Selenothrips rubrocinctus (Giard) Reference https://ghana.ipm-info.org/insects-and-mites/