Impacts on Integrated Pest Management - Climate Resilient Agriculture for Ensuring Food Security - page 208

and sequencing of a nucleic acid sequence that
provides a “bar code” unique to any specifi c
organism, enabling its rapid and precise identifi -
cation. Infi eld methods for plant diagnostics are
dominated by a single format: the serologically
based lateral fl ow device (LFD). The “pregnancy
kit” type LFDs are extremely robust and easy to
use and interpret, but are limited to known patho-
gens for which antisera are available.

combat the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica .
Bacterial seed treatment to control soilborne
pests is marketed in many countries, both the
developed and the developing (Hallmann et al.
2009 ). The use of mutualistic fungal endophytes
to manage pests and enhance plant tolerance is
being tested in bananas, rice, vegetables, and
ornamentals (Hallmann et al. 2009 ).
Rhizobacterial treatment of potato and rice is
also considered practical (Padgham and Sikora
2007 ) for pest management. The development of
benefi cial microorganisms as a component of
seed, seedbed, and seedling treatment technology
is moving forward quickly in many countries and
could benefi t developing countries in the near
future. Partnerships with the private sector are
crucial when the newest technologies are to be
adapted to the needs of small-scale farmers and
ensure the structures are in place through which
they receive high-quality seeds and seedlings that
remain protected when placed in the hostile agro-
ecosystem environment (Dubois et al. 2006 ).

11.3.2.5 Cropland Management
The impact of new forms of cropland manage-
ment on crop production, and especially on lim-
ited water resources, can lead to losses if this is
not designed with pests in mind. Pests can bring
greater reductions in crop water-use effi ciency
under poorly designed systems. New or modifi ed
crop and landscape management approaches
such as “push and pull,” intercropping, relay and
sequential planting, border strips, and living
mulches can be used for the management of pests
while simultaneously conserving water resources.
The incorporation of living mulches is an exam-
ple of an innovative cropping system for inte-
grated soil and pest management in cereal-based
farming systems, minimizing pest infestation,
sustaining permanent soil cover, and increasing
soil fertility (Chabi-Olaye et al. 2005 ). Similarly,
the intercropping of trees and coffee with banana
can alter pest pressure and spread (Staver et al.
2001 ). Intercropping and mulching are effective
in the management of soilborne pests in peren-
nial crops, by stimulating benefi cial microorgan-
isms that regulate densities of pests such as plant
parasitic nematodes (Pattison et al. 2003 ).

11.3.2.7 Semiochemicals
Semiochemicals control the communication of
insects both interspecifi c (allelochemicals) and
intraspecifi c (pheromones). They are used in pest
management either alone for pest monitoring and
decision-making and for mass trapping or mating
disruption or in combination with insecticides,
sterilants, or insect pathogens, the so-called
“attract-and-kill” strategy (El-Sayed et al. 2009 ).
Additionally, semiochemicals released by plants
can repel insect pests from the crop (“push”) and
attract them into trap crops (“pull”). In this way
the push-pull approach has been developed for
controlling insect pests and the parasitic weed
Striga hermonthica for subsistence farming sys-
tems in Africa and has been adopted by over
25,000 maize smallholder farmers in East Africa.
There, maize yields have subsequently increased
from about 1 t/ha to 3.5 t/ha with minimal inputs
(Khan et al. 2008 ). The potential use of semio-
chemicals for pest management on small-scale
farms in developed countries remains underex-
ploited. Similarly, a clearer understanding of the
behavior of insects, including their migration
capacities and spatial dispersal, could enable

11.3.2.6 Seed/Seedling/Seedbed
Treatment
Seeds coated with chemical or biological agents
protect plants from a wide range of pests and dis-
eases in the early stages of growth, ensuring a
good establishment and higher yield. Seed treat-
ments also reduce the risk of farmers and the
environment being exposed to pesticides.
Advances have been made in coating maize seeds
with herbicides (Kanampiu et al. 2002 ) and sor-
ghum seeds with the mycoherbicide Fusarium
oxysporum f. sp. strigae (Elzein et al. 2006 ) to