Fossils bring insect control down to earth. Validated RNRRS Output.
Abstract
This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.
Associated with Projects R7034, R8179 and R8460. lakes can be ground and mixed with grain to kill insect pests. Known as diatomaceous earths (DEs), these powders have proven to be highly effective in a range of agro-ecological zones in Zimbabwe and Tanzania, protecting crops for more than eight months. The food security and income opportunities of many rural households in sub-Saharan Africa are seriously undermined by storage insect pests. Farmers in Tanzania and Zimbabwe who tested DEs found that they offered an effective alternative to chemical pesticides—whose safety and efficacy are increasingly questioned— and to traditional materials such as ashes, botanicals and sand, which give inconsistent results.
The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Environmental Impact. Attached PDF (14 pp.) taken from the CD.
Citation
CPH35, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 101.