Aspects of cotton and vegetable farmers' pest management decision-making in India and Kenya

Improvement of farmers' decision-making has been recognised as critical for the implementation of IPM, yet practitioners lack sound knowledge on the 'how and why' of farmers' decision-making processes. This study explored the perceptions, pest management practice, decision tools and sources of infor...

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Main Authors: Williamson, S., Little, A., Arif Ali, M., Kimani, M., Meir, C., Oruko, L.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Informa UK Limited 2003
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/32964
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author Williamson, S.
Little, A.
Arif Ali, M.
Kimani, M.
Meir, C.
Oruko, L.
author_browse Arif Ali, M.
Kimani, M.
Little, A.
Meir, C.
Oruko, L.
Williamson, S.
author_facet Williamson, S.
Little, A.
Arif Ali, M.
Kimani, M.
Meir, C.
Oruko, L.
author_sort Williamson, S.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Improvement of farmers' decision-making has been recognised as critical for the implementation of IPM, yet practitioners lack sound knowledge on the 'how and why' of farmers' decision-making processes. This study explored the perceptions, pest management practice, decision tools and sources of information of smallholder farmers growing cotton in India and vegetables in Kenya. Farmers trained under an Insecticide Resistance Management and two IPM Farmer Field School projects were compared with untrained farmers from the same localities, using individual interviews and participatory group analysis methods. Trained farmers' decision-making was enhanced, by the use of more decision tools and new sources of information and technologies and they were generally more confident in their pest management strategies than untrained farmers. As a result, trained farmers reduced their pest management costs but did not always obtain higher gross margins. Issues of gender, sustainability, economics and group action are discussed, along with recommendations for research and extension to take a closer look at farmers' decision-making processes in cash and subsistence crops.
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spelling CGSpace329642023-03-17T16:56:29Z Aspects of cotton and vegetable farmers' pest management decision-making in India and Kenya Williamson, S. Little, A. Arif Ali, M. Kimani, M. Meir, C. Oruko, L. cotton vegetable crops extension activities training farmers [agricultural population] pest control integrated pest management decision making small farms costs Improvement of farmers' decision-making has been recognised as critical for the implementation of IPM, yet practitioners lack sound knowledge on the 'how and why' of farmers' decision-making processes. This study explored the perceptions, pest management practice, decision tools and sources of information of smallholder farmers growing cotton in India and vegetables in Kenya. Farmers trained under an Insecticide Resistance Management and two IPM Farmer Field School projects were compared with untrained farmers from the same localities, using individual interviews and participatory group analysis methods. Trained farmers' decision-making was enhanced, by the use of more decision tools and new sources of information and technologies and they were generally more confident in their pest management strategies than untrained farmers. As a result, trained farmers reduced their pest management costs but did not always obtain higher gross margins. Issues of gender, sustainability, economics and group action are discussed, along with recommendations for research and extension to take a closer look at farmers' decision-making processes in cash and subsistence crops. 2003-07 2013-07-03T05:25:50Z 2013-07-03T05:25:50Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/32964 en Open Access Informa UK Limited International Journal of Pest Management;49(3): 187-198
spellingShingle cotton
vegetable crops
extension activities
training
farmers [agricultural population]
pest control
integrated pest management
decision making
small farms
costs
Williamson, S.
Little, A.
Arif Ali, M.
Kimani, M.
Meir, C.
Oruko, L.
Aspects of cotton and vegetable farmers' pest management decision-making in India and Kenya
title Aspects of cotton and vegetable farmers' pest management decision-making in India and Kenya
title_full Aspects of cotton and vegetable farmers' pest management decision-making in India and Kenya
title_fullStr Aspects of cotton and vegetable farmers' pest management decision-making in India and Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Aspects of cotton and vegetable farmers' pest management decision-making in India and Kenya
title_short Aspects of cotton and vegetable farmers' pest management decision-making in India and Kenya
title_sort aspects of cotton and vegetable farmers pest management decision making in india and kenya
topic cotton
vegetable crops
extension activities
training
farmers [agricultural population]
pest control
integrated pest management
decision making
small farms
costs
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/32964
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