Pest management is a special challenge in organic production, and pest damage can severely reduce quality and yields. The aim of the subproject is to develop integrated pest management packages for selected organic value chains of pineapple in Uganda and for solanaceous vegetables (tomato, eggplant and bell pepper) in Tanzania and to strengthen, the countries research capacity to develop integrated approaches for production of high value crops.
‘From the findings and experience of ProGrOV what do you see as an important issue for future research in organic agriculture in East Africa?’
It is important to develop sustainable crop protection methods for organic agriculture following the principles of eco-functional intensification, making use of and supporting the healthy function of agroecosystems.
This requires knowledge-based farming and implementation of novel methods of pest management including methods that promote by conserving and augmenting natural enemies of insect pests.
In ProGrOV our studies show that the multipurpose method of mulching can be used and optimized to reduce weeds and pests and augment natural enemies