Pest management practices used by farmers in some parts of Owerri North L.G.A Imo State

Abstract

Pest management is one of the major problems faced in Nigeria. This study was done to assess pest management practices in Owerri North L.G.A, Imo State. A structured questionnaire was developed focusing on the pest and disease the individuals were facing in the study area and their method of management. Two hundred questionnaires were randomly distributed to the individual in the study area. The result revealed the good awareness of pest management with 165(92.69%) respondents. The household pests list in the questionnaire were identified between (94.94%)-(100%) of the respondents. Result revealed that more than a half of the respondents had a food crop farm with 93.26%. The study revealed that all the respondents had encountered household pests, however, mosquito 178 (100%) being the most acknowledge. Ninety for point Ninety four percent of the respondents acknowledged that their crop are affected by pest. The result showed that more than 50(50%) of the pest are seen during the rainy season with a frequency of 101 (56.74%). The result on the different control measures practiced by the respondents revealed that, traditional method had the highest frequency of 166 (93.26%) among other methods. However, 51.69%considered their effectiveness of the control method moderate. The Result on the impact of pesticides showed that 93 (52.25%) and 96 (53.93) acknowledged that the use of pesticides in the area affects both soil and human. It was observed that most of the problem of pest management in the area of study can be solved by creating schools or awareness in the communities so that farmers will be educated on the types of pest and how to remedy their attacks on crops and livestock.

Keywords: Pest management practices, farmers, pest, pesticides