Impact Assessment of agricultural research and development to reduce virus problems in tomato production in Mali: Farmers perceptions

Transcription

1 AAAE Conference Proceedngs (2007) Impact Assessment of agrcultural research and development to reduce vrus problems n tomato producton n Mal: Farmers perceptons Nouhohefln T. 1, Coulbaly O. 1, Norton G. 2, Soumare S. 3 and Sssoko P. 3 1 IITA, Bologcal Control Center for Afrca, BP Cotonou, Bénn 2 Vrgna Polytechnc and State Unversty Blacksburg, VA (USA) 3 Insttut d Econome Rural (Mal) Abstract Pests and dseases caused by bactera, nematodes, fung and vruses cause sgnfcant losses to tomato n West Afrca. Ths study, carred-out wthn the framework of the IPM-CRSP mplemented jontly by IITA, IER and Vrgna Tech. and State Unversty, assesses farmers perceptons on tomato pests and analyzes factors affectng pest management decson-makng. Surveys were carred out n three tomato producton areas where pests and dseases are major agrcultural problems encountered by farmers. Data were collected a sample of from 343 farmers through a set of questonnares on tomato producton systems. Farmer s decson-makng n pest management was modeled usng an econometrcs Logt probablty model. Results show that the man dsease reported by most farmers s tomato leaf curl vruses transmtted by whtefly (Bemssa tabac). The spray of chemcals was not effectve on whtefly-transmtted vruses, but the observance of host free perod could sgnfcantly reduce the populaton of whtefles. Key factors affectng farmers pest management decsonmakng are gender; share of tomato ncome from household ncome and the level of farm ncome. Men are more nvolved n tomato producton due to access to pestcde and effectve demand for pestcdes because of ncomes (purchasng power). Ths paper concludes that tomato producton can ncrease sgnfcantly f mproved varetes tolerant to whtefly vruses are developed and dssemnated, and farmers traned on the approprate use of chemcals usng a partcpatory approach to rase ther level of awareness and nformaton on effectve pestcde use and pest-management decson-makng. Introducton Tomato vruses, dseases, and other pests have become a severe constrant to tomato producton n West Afrca, ncludng Mal (Soumaré and al., 2004). Gemn vruses n partcular have reduced the yeld and the area under tomato producton throughout the regon n recent years. Vruses and other pest problems have resulted n ncreased use of chemcal pestcdes n attempt to reduce crop losses. Tomato s senstve to pest pressure and s therefore subject to ntensve applcaton of chemcal pestcdes ncludng toxc ones. Resstance to pests, low awareness about rsks and avalablty of cheap but hgh toxc pestcdes have ncreased ther msuse and abuse. The msuse of pestcdes has rased concerns about health hazards lnked to ntoxcatons resultng n morbdty, deaths and envronmental polluton (Coulbaly and al., 2006). Varous alternatves such as mproved varetes tolerant to nsects and dseases; bopestcdes, botancal extracts have been tested and promoted to reduce the msuse and overuse of pestcdes n West Afrca. Vruses however are partcularly dffcult to manage through only chemcal use. Efforts have been made jontly to solve vrus and other pest problems n tomato by the Insttute of Rural Economy (IER) of Mal, Vrgna Tech., AVRDC, IITA and Cornell Unversty. Ths effort has nvolved collaboraton between IPM-CRSP managed by Vrgna Tech. for the assessment of potental mpacts of solvng or reducng specfc pest management problems on tomato n West Afrca, and the Agrcultural Botechnology Support Program (ABSPII) managed by Cornell Unversty for the development of a genetcally modfed tomato to provde resstance to a poty vrus that may become problem n the future f the Gemn vrus problem s solved. Ths paper presents the results of a baselne survey carred-out on tomato producton n Mal, and analyss of the economc mpacts of research to reduce vrus problems. More specfcally, t assesses farmers perceptons and knowledge of tomato pests and analyzes factors affectng farmers pest management decson-makng

2 Assessment of Agrcultural Research and Development to Reduce Vrus n Tomato Producton Data and Methods Samplng and survey: Surveys were carred out wthn tomato farmers communtes n hgh tomato producton areas n Mal n Data were collected from tomato producers, scentsts and ndustry experts. A sample of 343 vegetable producers was selected across 6 dstrcts n the Southern and Central regon. Vegetable producers were stratfed accordng to tomato basc croppng systems and source of water supply for waterng. Theoretcal model: Farmer s decson-makng n pest management s modeled usng an econometrc (Logt) model. Ths model s used to dentfy key factors most lkely to affect pest management decson-makng of tomato producers. We assume that pest management decson-makng s a functon of farm household characterstcs, management practces and local socoeconomcs condtons. Mathematcally, Logt probablty s represented by: ( Z ) = e Ζ 1 + e φ Z Z (1) = e < Ζ < Where Z = ßX ; ß a vector of unknown coeffcents; X a vector of factors of the th farmers. Φ (ßX ) the probablty that the th factor wll affect farmer s pest management decson-makng. The probablty that a gven factor affects pest management decson-makng s the area under the standard normal curve between and ß X. The larger s the value of ß X, the more mportant s ths factor affectng farmer s decson-makng. The change n Φ (ßX ) relatve to the change n X s gven by: δφ ( β X ) δφ δ Z = = f ( Z ) β j (2) δ X j δ Z δ X j Where f(z ) s the value of densty functon assocated wth each value of the underlyng Z ndex. Farmers pest management decson-makng s nfluenced by a vector of factors X ncludng farmers characterstcs, management practces and local socoeconomc condtons. Emprcal specfcaton: The emprcal specfcaton of the model dentfes the lkely factors affectng tomato pest management decson-makng n Mal. The descrptve statstcs on the varables nclude n the emprcal model are gven n table 1 Results and dscusson Farmers Soco-demographc profle: Tomato producers are young wth an average of 42 years and one thrd are women. Only 20% of tomato producers attended prmary school, 11% completed secondary educaton, and another 17% were schooled n adult educaton. The percentage of llterate farmers s 22% for females and 31% for males. The majorty of farmers are members of local grassroots organzatons where nformaton and experence as well as problems lnked to crop producton are shared and dscussed. They have sgnfcant experence n tomato farmng wth an average of 15 years across the stes. Household average sze s 8 people. Tomato producers are closed to the major market and to the man road. The dstance from tomato producers feld to the nearest market s on average 7 km and 3 km to the nearest major road. Farmers perceptons and knowledge on tomato pests The results ndcate that farmers were famlar wth tomato pests and dseases. The most common dseases and vruses reported are bacteral wlt, tomato leaf curl vruses, and folar dseases whch are reported by 26%, 25% and 24% of producers respectvely. Leaf spots (bacteral leaf spot, grey leaf spot and early blght) are also mentoned by 13% of farmers. The man problems of tomato producton reported durng dry season are tomato leaf curl vruses (TLCV) and bacteral wlt (Glbertson and al., 2006; Nagaraju and al., 2002). Farmers assume that TLCV s caused by a hgh temperature, defcency n water n the feld. Only few of them were aware that TLCV was transmtted by a whtefly vector, Bemsa tabac. In the rany season, folar dseases, early blght (Alternara solan) grey leaf spot (Stemphylum solan) and bacteral leaf spot (Xanthomonas campestr) are the most common dseases reported by tomato producers. The most common tomato pests are worms, aphds, whte fles and vruses reported by 27%, 22% and 18% of farmers respectvely. Worms, aphds and whte fly are beleved to decrease yeld and/or qualty of tomato despte the use of chemcals, by 15%, 7% and 5% of farmers respectvely. The ncreased resstance to chemcal pestcdes seems to be one of the most mportant factors causng the observed trend n pest severty on tomato. The effectveness of chemcal pestcdes s not a factor, as more than three fourths of tomato producers mentoned that chemcals used on tomato are effectve. Less than 10% of tomato producers combne the use of chemcals wth other non chemcal 200 AAAE Ghana Conference 2007

3 Nouhohefln, T. et al. methods such the destructon of host plants, the observance of host free perod, the use of nets to cover seedlngs n nursery or the use of plant extracts to control tomato pests. Factors affectng pest management decson-makng: Usng econometrcs Logt probablty model, four factors have sgnfcantly affected tomato producers pest management decson-makng. These varables nclude farmer s gender ( Gender ), the proporton of tomato ncome n the total annual ncome ( Tomato ncome ) and the proporton of farm ncome n the total annual ncome ( Farm ncome ). Tomato ncome and Farm ncome were negatvely assocated wth a producer s decson-makng, ndcatng that the tomato producer whose tomato or farm ncome s a smaller proporton of total annual ncome pays attenton to pest management decsonmakng. Gender coeffcent was postvely assocated wth decson-makng explanng that men are more nvolved n pest management decsonmakng than women. The sgnfcant of the farm structure Land Ownershp varable supposes that pest management decson-makng s also based on the farm characterstcs. Ths varable s postvely assocated wth farmer s decson-makng ndcatng that he s wllng to practce IPM methods to control pests on tomato when he had a property rght on the land. Ths result s not comparable to that found by McNamara and al, 1991, n assessng factors affectng peanut producer adopton of IPM n USA. These authors found that the adopton decsons are not based on structural characterstcs of the farm because producers follow only a porton of the IPM recommendatons. Concluson Tomato producton remans one of the most mportant cash crops n Mal where t s produced both n dry and rany seasons. Insects, dseases caused by bactera, nematodes, fung, and vruses are the major producton constrants and caused sgnfcant losses on tomato n term of yeld and qualty. Chemcal pestcdes are the common method used by farmers to control pests on tomato, but are not effectve on whtefly-transmtted vruses. An alternatve currently developed ncludes observance of a host free perod for tomato producton. The results show that the most lkely factors affectng pest management decson-makng n Mal nclude producer s characterstcs and farm structure. Management practces and nsttutonal factors focusng on producer s capacty buldng dd not statstcally nfluence producers decson-makng. Approprate measures n order to prevent future envronmental rsks should be taken. Farmers need to be traned on the approprate use of chemcals usng a partcpatory approach to rase ther level of awareness on pestcde use and pestmanagement decson-makng. Acknowledgments The authors thank all anonymous referee manly scentsts from IER, Vrgna Tech. and IITA for ther full nvolvement. Ths publcaton s a result of a collaboratve research support program funded by USAID. References Coulbaly, O.; A.J. Cherry, T. Nouhohefln, C. C. Atchedj and R. Al-Hassan Vegetable producer percepton and wllngness to pay for bopestcdes. Journal of Vegetable Scence Vol 12 (3) (2006) Glbertson R. and Shetty, R USAID Mal Msson Helps Malan Farmers Battle a Deadly Tomato Vruses Dseases through the Applcaton of Botechnology Tools. Msson report, UC Davs and USAID Mal July 2006 McNamara, T. K.; E. M. Wetzsten and G. K. Douce Factor affectng peanut producer adopton of ntegrated pest management. Revew of Agrcultural Economcs, Vol. 13, No. 1. (Jan., 1991), pp Nagaraju, N. H. M. Venkatesh, H. Warburton, V. Munyappa, T. C. B. Chancellor, and J Colvn Farmers' perceptons and practces for managng tomato leaf curl vrus dsease n southern Inda. In Internatonal journal of pest management, 2002, 48(4) Soumaré, S. ; K. M. Moore Expérence et percepton des producteurs de tomate : La vrose de la tomate au Mal. IER-Mal ; OIRED/Vrgna Tech, USA. Report, 15p Advancng Techncal Change n Agrculture 201

4 Nouhohefln, T. et al. Table 1. Names and descrpton of factors n farmers choces Varables names Descrpton of the varables Dependant varable Have you, or any member of your famly, ever partcpated n Farmer Feld School (FFS) Tranng for Y IPM?: 1 for Yes and 0 for No Explanatory varable Household characterstcs Gender 1 for male; 0 for female Age Farmer s age Educaton Farmer s educatonal status (0 for No educaton, 1 for basc educaton (6 years), 2 for secondary educaton (7-13 years) Farm experence Number of year n tomato producton Famly labor Number of persons who work n the famly Tomato farm sze Area cropped for tomato (n ha) Vegetable Proporton of vegetable consumed consumpton Tomato ncome Share of tomato n farmer annual ncome Farm ncome Share of farm ncome n total annual ncome Management practces Place of sale Place of sale of tomato 1 for market, 2 for feld/vllage Factors of pestcde choce s The most mportant factors consdered n the choce of pestcdes (1 = relatve advces, 2 = effcacy, 3 = Extenson agent advce, 4 = Pestcde cost, 5 = pestcde dealer advce/local rado) Socoeconomcs factors Land ownershp Mode of land uses (1 = Inhertance, 2 = Ownershp, 3 = Rentng) Irrgaton Type of water supply use for tomato croppng (1 = Irrgaton system, 2 = Recycled cans, 3 = Ran fed) Insttutonal factors Extenson Farmers who have been vsted by an agrcultural extenson agent, 1 = farmer has been vsted by an extenson agent, 0 = otherwse IPM partcpaton 1 f farmer or any member of hs famly has partcpated n Farmer Feld School (FFS) tranng for IPM; 0 otherwse Advancng Techncal Change n Agrculture 203

5 Assessment of Agrcultural Research and Development to Reduce Vrus n Tomato Producton Table 2. Logt regresson results for factor affectng pest management decson-makng Explanatory varables B S.E. Wald df Sg. Exp(B) Producer characterstcs Gender Age Educaton Farm experence Famly labor Tomato sze Vegetable consumpton Tomato Income Farm Income Management practces Place of Sale Factors Pestcdes Farm structure Land Ownershp Irrgaton Insttutonal factors Extenson IPM Partcpaton Predcton rate = 0.63 X 2 = Df = 15 Sg.=.00-2 Log lkelhood = AAAE Ghana Conference 2007