By Joyce Okuta
A
harmful insect pest suspected to be Tuta
absoluta is reported to have caused extensive damage to tomato crop in
Marigat Sub County.
This
was reported by the ministry of Agriculture in early May 2014 in Rabai area in
Yatoi sub location in Marigat location. It was first spotted in Perkerra
irrigation scheme in October 2013 but the damage was minimal.
In
Rabai the ravage was wide-ranging despite farmers using different types of
pesticides available in the market.
 |
Some
of the damaged tomatoes in farmers’
field.- Marigat location
|
“Approximately
25acres (10ha) of tomato has been
affected and the farmers are likely not to harvest anything. They are likely to
lose about Kshs 1,800,000 worth of
the crop,” Said Koskey Joel, Sub-county Crops Development Officer, Ministry of
Agriculture.
According to Tuta absoluta Network Reports, the devastating
pest of Tomato originated from South America. Recently it is considered
to be a serious threat to tomato production in Mediterranean region. The newly
introduced pest from south America finding the shores of the Mediterranean a
perfect new home where it can breed between 10-12 generations a year. Each female can lay 250-300 eggs in her life time. This pest is crossing
boarders and devastating tomato production both protected and open fields.
It is further
revealed that Tuta absoluta is a very challenging pest to control. Effectiveness of
chemical control is limited due to insect's nature of damage as well as its
rapid capability of development of insecticide resistant strains. The use of
biological factors are still largely under development and not ready to combat
this pest effectively and in a cost effective way. Sex pheromone trap is
used as an early detection tool. Mass trapping and lure and Kill application
of pheromone has been found to be effective to control it.
Meanwhile
the ministry of Agriculture (sub-county) has engaged the county government to
manage the damaging insect pest.
