Farmers’ knowledge, experience and management of fall armyworm in a major maize producing municipality in Ghana

Abstract

Since its discovery in Ghana, the fall armyworm (FAW) has damaged maize farms resulting in yield losses. This study investigated farmers’ knowledge, practices and impact of the pest in a major maize growing municipality in Ghana. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information from 200 randomly sampled farmers on their knowledge, practices, perceived effect and management of the FAW. FAW susceptibility to insecticides was also assessed. Although insecticide application was dominant (98%) and farmers experienced adverse health effects, application frequency and the resulting effects were not significantly related (p > 0.05). Usage of personal protective equipment (PPE) was low (45.7%) and only 2% of the farmers used complete PPE. Gender correlated positively with PPE usage with more females wearing PPE compared to males. Age, farming experience, education and farm size did not significantly impact on PPE usage. The FAW outbreak negatively affected farmers’ relationships (36.5%) and caused economic loss to many farmers (80%). FAW was susceptible to emamectin benzoate (1.9% w/v) and emamectin benzoate (48 g/L) + acetamiprid (64 g/L) but not Bacillus thuringiensis (55%) + monosultap (45%) under laboratory conditions. The findings and implications of the study on farmer safety and sustainable pest management are discussed.

Keywords:

• fall armyworm
• insecticide application
• maize farmers
• personal protective equipment
• Ghana

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the funding support of the University of Ghana (UGRF/11/MDG-019/2018-2019). The authors are also grateful to the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the Department of Agriculture (Ministry of Food and Agriculture) at Ejura-Sekyedumase for the various logistical support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are included in this published article apart from data containing information that could compromise the identity and privacy of research participants which are available on request from the corresponding author.

Ethical approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval (ECBAS 013/18-19) was obtained from the University of Ghana, Legon.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2023.2184006

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Ghana Research Fund under grant UGRF/11/MDG-019/2018-2019. The funding body had no role in the design of the study, collection, analysis and interpretation of data and writing the manuscript.