Potential of intercropping for management of some arthropod and nematode pests of leafy vegetables in Kenya

African leafy vegetables (ALVs) play an important role as income and food security crops in many households in Kenya. However, their potential in alleviating poverty and ensuring household food and nutrition security has not been fully exploited. The objectives of this study were to identify some arthropod and nematode pests that infest ALVs and to evaluate the effectiveness of intercropping of susceptible and resistant plants for the management purposes. Three vegetable types: African nightshade, sunn hemp and spider plant were used in determining the efficacy of an intercrop of susceptible and non-susceptible types in reducing arthropod and nematode pest effect. The treatments in the field experiment consisted of different intercrop designs and a sole crop design as control while data was taken based on five different variables. Crops in the field were infested with arthropod pests and eight different species were enumerated. The same row and hill intercropping designs were the most effective in reducing the effect of arthropod and nematode pests compared to the control plots. Spider plant and African nightshade intercrops recorded the least arthropod pest damage, higher fresh and dry shoot yields and differed significantly (P≤0.05) to African nightshade planted as a sole crop. A similar trend was observed when the experiment was repeated with a sunn hemp and African nightshade intercrop. It is concluded from this study that intercropping of different crops can be integrated with other methods to provide an easily adaptable technology to apply for effective management of arthropod and nematode pests with low external inputs

Larval dispersal of the invasive fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, the exotic stemborer Chilo partellus, and indigenous maize stemborers in Africa

Larval dispersal either through ballooning or crawling results in a redistribution of the insect population and infestations within and between plants. In addition, invasive species, such as the fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and the exotic stemborer Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), may displace indigenous stemborers on maize in Africa. To test whether larval dispersal activity may play a role in the displacement of indigenous stemborers, larval dispersal was compared between FAW, C. partellus, and the indigenous species Busseola fusca (Fuller) and Sesamia calamistis (Hampson) (both Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Twenty potted maize plants were infested with one batch of eggs either from stemborers (B. fusca, S. calamistis, or C. partellus) or from FAW and monitored in the greenhouse for ballooning activities. After egg hatching, both ballooning and non-ballooning larvae were identified according to species and counted. FAW neonate larvae had greater potential for ballooning off than stemborers, irrespective of species. For each species, more females dispersed than males, and their survival rate was higher than that of non-ballooning larvae. In addition, plant-to-plant larval movements were studied using 6.25-m(2) plots of caged maize in a completely randomized design with five replicates. FAW was found to have wider dispersal and plant damage potential than any of the stemborer species. In conclusion, in contrast to C. partellus, the invasive characteristic of FAW can be explained, in part, by its higher larval dispersal activity compared to stemborers. This difference in larval dispersal might also be considered in sampling plans for monitoring pest density in the field

Influence of temperature on the interaction for resource utilization between fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera : Noctuidae), and a community of lepidopteran maize stemborers Larvae

Intra- and interspecific interactions within communities of species that utilize the same resources are characterized by competition or facilitation. The noctuid stemborers, Busseola fusca and Sesamia calamistis, and the crambid stemborer, Chilo partellus were the most important pests of maize in sub-Saharan Africa before the recent "invasion" of fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, which currently seriously limits maize yields in Africa. This new pest is interacting with the stemborer community at the larval stage in the use of maize resources. From previous works on the influence of temperature on the larval intra- and interspecific resources utilization within the community of Lepidoptera stemborers involving B. fusca, S. calamistis, and C. partellus, there is a need to update these studies by adding the new pest, S. frugiperda, in order to understand the effect of temperature on the larval interactions of all these four species under the context of climate change. The influence of temperature on intra- and interspecific larval interactions was studied using artificial stems kept at different constant temperatures (15 degrees C, 20 degrees C, 25 degrees C, and 30 degrees C) in an incubator and assessing survival and relative growth rates of each species in single and multi-species experiments. After the inclusion of FAW into the experiments, with regard to relative growth rates, both intra- and interspecific competition was observed among all four species. With regard to survival rates, cannibalism can also explain the intra- and interspecific interactions observed among all four species. Interspecific competition was stronger between the stemborers than between the FAW and the stemborers. Similar to lepidopteran stemborers, temperature affected both survival and relative growth rates of the FAW as well. Regardless of the temperature, C. partellus was superior in interspecific interactions shown by higher relative growth and survival rates. The results suggest that the FAW will co-exist with stemborer species along entire temperature gradient, though competition and/or cannibalism with them is weak. In addition, temperature increases caused by climate change is likely to confer an advantage to C. partellus over the fall armyworm and the other noctuids