Mentored study visits

Towards the need for a common understanding of Farmer Participatory Research (FPR) and Participatory Learning (PL) in IPM, the erstwhile SP-IPM Task Force on FPR-IPM, in collaboration with the Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis (PRGA), FAO Global IPM Facility, and CABI Biosciences organized an international workshop in 1996 to clarify FPR concepts and develop a framework for action. The workshop output was translated into a project proposal highlighting the need for a series of mentored study-exchanges visits by frontline IPM practitioners followed by a global learning workshop to synthesize case studies and experiences. The aim was to clarify FPR and PL concepts, provide research planners and managers and policy makers with guidelines on key participatory principles and practices underpinning successful IPM projects, and encourage the incorporation of such approaches in modifications of existing IPM projects and in designing new ones. The activities were:

Partners: The primary project partners, who contributed financial resources to launch this project, were the Systemwide Program on IPM, FAO Global IPM Facility, and PRGA. Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), which has a long-standing interest in facilitating the process of innovation in agricultural development, stepped in to provide additional support for the learning workshop designed to synthesize the experiences of the study tour exchanges. The CABI Bioscience Technical Support Group (to the Global IPM Facility) contributed time and intellectual capital to the development of the study tour process and joined the project Steering Committee along with the four sponsoring partners and a representative of the Project lead Center, CIAT.

The following projects/programs were partners in the study tour exchanges:

The learning workshop was hosted by the Institute of Biological Agriculture and Farmer Field Schools (IBAFFS), Department of Agricultural Extension, Thailand. All partners generously contributed ideas and practical efforts that helped to assure the success of this project.

Project Steering Committee: Braima James, SP-IPM Secretariat; Carlos Arturo Quirós, CIAT-IPRA; Janny Vos, CABI; Kevin Gallagher, GIF; Nina Lilja, PRGA; Peter Bieler, SDC

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Establishing IPM pilot sites

The SP-IPM works with numerous partners to increase the usefulness of IPM research results, focusing on resource-limited farmers and their major cropping systems. In Africa, for example, farmers express grave concern over the increasing importance of parasitic weeds in cereal-legume systems. Although a number of promising IPM options are available to address these kinds of production constraints, their adoption at farm level is disappointingly slow. Poor communication between researchers and farmers is believed by many to be a major limiting factor. To overcome such bottlenecks, the SP-IPM began in 2000 to establish ‘pilot sites’ as part of its implementation strategy to make more IPM options available in farming communities and to help participating organizations to gain experience in developing effective research-farmer-extension partnerships. The pilot sites also serve as focal points for advocacy efforts as participating organizations use the sites to demonstrate the benefits of IPM to decision-makers at various levels and thus encourage them to adopt IPM-friendly policies within their respective spheres of influence.

Pilot site selection criteria: Funding for the IPM Pilot Sites Initiative was approved by the CGIAR Finance Committee, meeting in Washington in November 1999. Following a brief e-mail discussion among members of the Inter-Center Working Group on IPM, a planning meeting was convened at ICIPE, Nairobi, in mid-January, 2000, to refine the objectives of the pilot sites initiative, prioritize among possible sites, and develop an action plan for both the initiative as a whole and for the individual pilot sites. The 14 workshop participants represented six international agricultural research centers (CABI, CIMMYT, ICARDA, ICIPE, ICRISAT, and IITA), four national agricultural research organizations (INERA, Burkina Faso; INRA, Morocco; IRAD, Cameroon; and KARI, Kenya), and the SP-IPM. The outputs of the meeting provided the basis for launching the first year's activities.

Site activities: The first set of pilot sites are located in Mid-altitude ecology in Kenya, Northern-Guinea savannah in Nigeria, sahel ecology in Burkina Faso and Mali, Dry/rain fed ecology in Egypt and Morocco and focus on cereal-legume systems where farmers had identified poor soil fertility, parasitic weeds (Striga in sub-Sahara Africa and Orobanche in North Africa ) and insect pests (e.g., stem borers in maize and Hessian fly in wheat) as the major production constraints. In the targeted cropping systems, farmers’ local crop varieties succumb easily to the weeds and insect pests. Traditional hand pulling of Striga and Orobanche, for example, is ineffective. In a few cases herbicides are used but without good long-term results. Farmers do practically nothing against the insect pests and diseases. Those who can afford inorganic fertilizers commonly apply these without advice based on soil tests.

At pilot sites, research-farmer-extension teams agree on ‘entry points’, i.e., pressing crop production problems for which IPM research can offer the ‘plausible promise’ of a solution, and then select ‘best-bet’ options to evaluate in participatory field experiments by farmers on their own fields. Farmers are also trained in the relevant principles of farm ecology and encouraged to go beyond the formal evaluation of suggested IPM options to develop and adapt innovations to their own needs. Through farmer participatory approaches, the pilot site activities enhance IPM literacy in farming communities, increase farmer and community ownership of results, and enable researchers to revise research agenda in line with evolving realities in the experiments.

The SP-IPM has produced a public awareness video, “Breaking the cycle” to highlight pilot site activities and gains. Site achievements have also attracted the attention of key national decision makers. In Morocco, for example, high-powered site visit by the country’s Minister of Agriculture, research Directors, media houses, and international visits by World Bank Officials have set the scene for scaling-up the activities nationally. Similarly in Egypt, pilot site results provide the necessary encouragement to revitalize farmers’ confidence in faba bean as a profitable crop. Mass farmers’ field days in Nigeria and Kenya have equally publicized the IPM “goodies” to public officials and the press.

As resources become available, the SP-IPM intention is to establish a series of pilot sites in key agroecologies around the world, to serve as focal points for developing and implementing new models of partnership and new options in IPM, and to bring the fruits of scientific efforts in this area to the attention of a wider public.

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Pilot site 1: Lambwe valley, Kenya

Site Management: Zakayo Mekenye MAGARA, Agricultural Officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Nyanza, P O Box 1700, Kisumu, Kenya, and Zeyaur Khan, ICIPE

Partners: ICIPE, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), CIMMYT, Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, ICRISAT, CABI, CARE, and Catholic Diocese of Homa Bay.

Site characterization: The Western Kenya pilot site is located in the Lake Victoria Basin which is a moist (>550mm), mid-altitude (1110-1500m), agroecological zone. This zone is the largest maize growing area of Kenya, representing 44% of the total land devoted to maize. The moist, mid-altitude zone is also representative of a large part of the maize growing area in other countries in East and southern Africa. In the dryer areas of the zone, maize is often replaced with sorghum. In addition to cereals, many farmers grow legumes (cowpeas or beans), cassava, and groundnuts, and maintain livestock.

Major biotic constraints to agricultural production in the area include striga, stemborers and diseases in maize and sorghum. Farmers have identified striga (Striga hermonthica) as the most important constraint to maize production in the region. The two most economically important stemborers in East and southern Africa, Chilo partellus and Busseola fusca, attack maize and sorghum in the Lake Basin

Several IARCs, working in partnership with KARI, MOA and NGOs, are presently active in the Lake Victoria Basin. CIMMYT, ICRAF and ICIPE, working with national and local partners, have activities related to striga management. CIMMYT has striga tolerant varieties, and has proposed various cultural controls. ICRAF is working on improving soil fertility to suppress striga; ICIPE and CIMMYT are also developing IPM tactics for stemborers, with CIMMYT focusing on resistance and ICIPE on a 'push-pull' habitat management approach using the fodder legume, Desmodium and by manipulating wild grasses on field margin to promote biological control of stemborers. Streak resistance maize varieties are also available from CIMMYT.

In addition to maize IPM, ICRISAT has groundnut varieties resistant to rosette virus which are available for testing, and IITA has a series of cowpea pest management options (developed by the PEDUNE network) which they believe would be appropriate for the moist, mid-altitude zone of East Africa.

The pilot site location, Lambwe Valley, lies between Homa Bay and Mbita. ICIPE has worked extensively in this area, primarily on tsetse fly management, and thus, the Lambwe Valley has been well-characterized, both physically (climate, soils) and socio-economically (Table 1). Table 2 summarizes 'best-bet' clusters of IPM options as presented by researchers and farmers

Table 1: Lambwe valley site features

Site feature	Measurement
Total area	200 sq. km.
Arable land	150 sq. km.
Population	18,100
Farm families	2000 (av. 6 persons per family)
Farm holding	4-7 acres
Altitude	1100-1500 m
Temperature	17-29 C
Rainfall	600-1200 mm (bimodal)
Seasons	long rainy season (March - May); short rainy season (Sept - Oct)
Soil	valley bottom: black alluvial; other: mixture of clay loam and sandy loam
Administrative units	2 locations, 6 sub-locations
Production
Soil	valley bottom: black alluvial; other: mixture of clay loam and sandy loam
Main crops	maize, sorghum, beans
Main livestock	zebu cattle, goats, sheep, chickens
Main products	milk, meat, butter, eggs
Others	fishing, game
Food demand	cereal 28-136 bags/year; legume 5427 bags/year

Table 2: Agreed 'best-bet' clusters of IPM options at Lambwe valley, Kenya

Problems encountered	Research options	Farmers coping strategies
Striga	·      KARI variety KSTP 94 which is Striga tolerant, open pollinated, and has been tested and released by KARI Kakamega Research centre in the AEZ. KSTP 94 will be a new introduction to the farmers healthy seeds from healthy plants early planting at the onset of rains ·      intercrop maize with cover crops or improved pasture legumes (e.g. Desmodium) to impede Striga germination, development and reproduction, reduce Striga seed bank in the soil, increase soil fertility, promote plant vigour and soil water conservation ·      increase soil fertility with 2.5 ton/ha farm yard manure (FYM) to increase plant vigour, inhibit germination, promote soil and water conservation, and reduce seed bank, or ·      increase soil fertility with 25 kg/ha inorganic fertiliser (farmers opting to try inorganic fertiliser will pay for the inputs). Soil fertility treatment is a long-term strategy ·      hand pull/weed Striga to reduce seed bank	·    the farmer's preferred maize variety (one that s/he is currently growing; mostly early maturing) early planting at onset of rains intercrop maize with beans apply FYM (?2-12 months old FYM) mulch maize field with stover
Stemborers	·      tolerant variety: the proposed Striga tolerant variety, KARI variety KSTP 94, is untested for stemborer tolerance in the country.  ·     trap/catch cropping: Plant wild hosts (e.g., Napier grass, Sudan grass) in nearby fields to divert borers from crop to these wild host grasses, attract biocontrol agents, increase parasitism of stem borers, and increase farm income through sale of the wild hosts as fodder. Livestock farming will encourage adoption of the technology. field sanitation after harvest  field cleaning of infested plants/rouging  apply wood ash + pepper mixture o apply neem seed powder	sow more than one seed per hole and thinning afterwards; field cleaning of infested plants/rouging at early signs of borer damage apply traditional botanicals

Entry points: a) Striga on cereals (maize and sorghum): tolerant varieties, cultural controls, soil fertility; b) Stemborers on cereals (maize and sorghum): tolerant varieties, cultural controls; c) Groundnut rosette virus: resistant varieties; d) Cowpea pests: resistant varieties, botanicals and solarization.

Pilot site 2: Zaria, Nigeria

Site Management: Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria; and IITA, Alphonse Emechebe

Partners: Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Sasakawa Global 2000, IITA and ICRISAT.

Site characterization: The Nigeria pilot site is located in the Northern Guinea Savanna Benchmark Area of the Ecoregional Programme for Humid and Sub-humid Tropical Africa (EPHTA). The benchmark area has been selected by EPHTA as representative of humid tree savannas which stretch right across West Africa between the forest and the Sahel. The benchmark area extends between Zaria and Kano, representing a gradient from maize-cowpea dominated systems in the south to predominantly sorghum-cowpea systems in the North, with a strong livestock component. A number of IPM research and implementation projects are already working in this area and a wide range of biophysical and socioeconomic characterizations have already been undertaken (under the auspices of EPHTA).

Communities near Zaria which are already the site of farmer validation work for Striga management options form the core of the SP-IPM pilot site. The operational sites are in Kayawa, Layin Taki and Detu villages. Participatory problem analysis have repeatedly identified Striga and declining soil fertility (which are, in any case functionally linked, to some extent) as the issues of prime concern to farmers in localities. Researchers have also drawn attention to alarmingly high levels of aflatoxin contamination in stored maize in this zone, though farmers are, for the most part, unaware of this problem and its serious health implications. Cowpeas are a vital subsistence and cash crop - providing both high value food for people and fodder for cattle. Insect pests are generally recognized as the major constraint on production of this crop. The numerous pest and disease problems (pre- and post-harvest) are already being tackled, using participatory methods, by a sub-project of IITA-PRONAF, a regional network promoting IPM approaches to cowpea.

Many years of research by IITA and other IARCs has produced a range of options of proven effectiveness for Striga management. These are based on reducing seed contamination and reducing the seed bank in the soil. Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, is the organization responsible for management of the EPHTA benchmark area. The University's Institute for Agricultural Research already operates a research station in Kano jointly with IITA, ICRISAT and ILRI. The pilot site initiative builds on research collaborations established over many years. Links with ABU's training programme, the national extension service and (increasingly) with NGOs, offer good prospects for wider propagation of IPM approaches. The wider extrapolation pathway for results of the pilot site work is assured through EPHTA.

Entry points: a) Striga on cereals (maize and sorghum): tolerant varieties, selected legume rotations; b) Soil fertility: legume rotations, residue management (including livestock use); c) Cowpea pests: resistant varieties, botanicals, solarization.

Table 3: Agreed 'best-bet' clusters of IPM options at Zaria, Nigeria

Problems encountered	Research options	Farmers coping strategies
Striga in maize	Use of Striga - free seeds: Minimizes infestation of Striga-free fields and introduction of new strains of Striga Striga resistant/tolerant maize varieties, e.g., Across 97-TZL Comp. 1-W (tall, late maturing, OP); IWD STR-CO (shorter,, medium duration, OP); Oba Super 1; Oba Super 2 (9022-13, N-efficient) Cultural practices: Mechanical weeding (hoeing and hand-pulling); moulding (earthening-up) Rotation of maize with non-host  legumes (soybean, cowpea and groundnut); at least 2 years of legume followed by 1 year of cereal under light  to moderate Striga infestations Double/relay cropping: Short duration cowpea followed by short duration maize/sorghum Short duration maize followed by dual purpose cowpea Intercropping cereals and legumes Strip cropping cereal: legume in 2:4 ratio Transplanting of sorghum grown in Striga- free nursery Use of FYM/organic manure: Annual application of 4 tons/ha of FYM as supplement to 50kg N/ha Use of inorganic fertilizer: Application of NPK, urea and SSP Chemical control: Apply recommended rates of 2,-4-D, glyphosate or paraquat	Striga tolerant Maize varieties, e.g., Red tassel maize (probably Oba Super 1) Cultural practices: Hoeing and hand-pulling; earthening up of the weeds Rotation with soybean and groundnut; not systematic; planting soybean or groundnut for 3-5 years after crop of severely infested cereal Relay cropping of maize followed by cowpea Use of farm yard manure: FYM applied as/when available Use of inorganic fertilizer: Application of urea Crop rotation (3-5 years of soybean or groundnut subsequent to severe Striga infection of cereal. If current maize crop is severely infected, remold entire crop and then; (a) plant cowpea or sweet potato or (b)plant ‘red tassel maize variety” (probably Oba Super I)
Striga and soil infertility sorghum	Resistant/tolerant sorghum varieties, e.g., ICSV111 (early maturing; sow early August, to follow short duration cowpea (e.g., IT93K-452-1) with only 2 insecticide sprays)	Resistant/tolerant sorghum varieties e.g., Gezarnera (local); Mai masaba (improved) Apply urea fertilizer (routine agronomic practice for increased productivity) and then earthen-up to cover weeds and Striga Rotating with soybean or groundnut

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Pilot site 3: Settat area of Central, Morocco

Site management: Saadia Lhaloui, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Maroc, P O Box 589 Settat, Saadia Lhaloui, ICARDA: Amor Yahyaoui

Partners: INRA/CRRA-Morocco, extension service of Morocco, ICARDA

Site characterization: The economy of Morocco is based mainly on agricultural production. Cereals and food legumes are the major crops cultivated in the country. While the demand for these agricultural products has grown rapidly over the past two decades, the decline in production and yield is alarming. Therefore, there is an urgent need to increase and stabilize cereal and food legume production in the country. The SP-IPM pilot site is in the Settat area in Central Morocco, where rain fed wheat and chickpea are the major crops, and which are grown in rotation with each other. Production of the crops faces major insect pest, disease and weed problems, which in some years cause complete crop failures. Each year, yield losses of up to 30% can be recorded. The major production problems are Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor) in bread wheat, the fungal disease Ascochyta blight, the parasitic weed Orobanche, and the leaf miner (Liriomyza cicerena) in chickpea.

To promote the adoption of any pest control method by farmers, alternative options need to be developed, demonstrated, and assessed for their economic return and for environment-friendly dimension. Various cereal and food legume production technologies have been generated in Morocco and by ICARDA on methods of disease, insect and weed control. In the cereal and food legume production system of Morocco, host resistance, crop rotation and adjustment of cultural practices appear to be the most appropriate economic means of managing pests, diseases, and weeds because crop values are too low to justify costly pesticide use. An IPM strategy would provide a sustainable system of combating disease and insect problems in such low cash value cereal and legume crops grown in the region.

Table 4: Pilot site community, Settat, Morocco

Community	Fraction	Douar or village	No Households	Population
Sidi El Aidi	M’razigue	16	467	3241
	Beni Majriche	8	509	3174
	Ouled Idder	7	455	2859
	Jeddate	13	525	3813
	Total	44	1956	13087
Ain Nzagh	Aaraere	12	500	3606
	Ouled Arrousse I	14	726	5113
	Ouled Arrousse II	9	601	3611
	Total	35	1827	12330
Grand total		79	3783	25417

The pilot site in Settat is composed of two farmers communities, one in Sidi El-Aidi and one in Ain Nzagh. The Sidi El Aidi community, is a very large community, situated at 15 km north of Settat, on the road to Casablanca. It is also situated in the middle of the Chaouia plain which is one of the largest cereals and food legumes producing region of the country. This community is subdivided into 4 fractions, or sub-communities. These are M’razigue, Beni Majriche, Ouled Idder, and Jeddat; each of them is itself composed of several Douars or villages, that are the basic social and administrative unit of the community. The Village of Ouled Moussa Tirs, in the sub-community of Beni Mejriche was selected to establish the pilot site because of its proximity to roads and to Settat, and is situated in the middle of the community, and hosts the weekly farmer market. All farmers from the community come to this market, and have opportunities to see the plots and interact with pilot site farmers, especially when pilot site meetings and demonstration activities are scheduled on the market day.

The Ain Nzagh community is also large, situated near the INRA Settat center, and going south of Settat, on the road to Guisser. It is also situated in the middle of the High Chaouia plain. This community is subdivided into 3 fractions, or sub-communities. These are the Aaraere, the Ouled Arrousse I, and the Ouled Arrousse II. Each of these sub-communities is itself composed of several villages or Douars, that are the basic unit of the community. In this region, the SP-IPM pilot sites are in the villages of laqwawsa and Lakdadra from the sub-community Ouled Arrousse I. These locations have proximity to roads and Settat, and are close to weekly farmers markets

Entry points: a) Improved wheat variety for Hessian fly control; b) Improved chickpea variety for Ascochyta blight control; c) Weed control; d) Appropriate fertilization; e) Appropriate planting date; f) Use of a drill for planting.

Table 5: Agreed 'best-bet' clusters of IPM options at Settat, Morocco

Problems encountered	Research options	Farmers coping strategies
Bread wheat
Hessian fly	Resistant varieties	None
Weeds	Early chemical control at 3 leaf stage, and at the beginning of tillering stage	Hand weeding and late chemical control at jointing stage or later
Fertilizer use/poor soils	Optimization of fertilizer use after soil analysis and determination of fertilizer kinds and units needed at planting time, and as nitrogen top dressing	Arbitrary use of fertilizer without soil analysis
Planting date	Avoid late seeding.	Planting date depends on weather conditions
Use of the drill	The use of the drill is an essential element in the cultural techniques used	Very rare
Chickpea
Ascochyta blight	Winter seeding to avoid spring infections	None
Drought stress	Winter seeding	None
Weeds	Chemical control	Hand weeding and cultivation
Leaf miner	Chemical control, and Neem spray	None
Fertilizer use/poor soils	Recommendations of quantities and types based on soil analysis to optimize production: P, K and N (as starter) at seeding	Erratic use with no optimization
Use of the drill	The use of the drill is an essential element in the cultural techniques used	Very rare

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Pilot site 4: Beni Suef Governorate, Egypt

Site management: Mamdouh Omar, ICARDA Cairo Office, 15G Radwan Ibn, El-Tabib St, Giza, Cairo, Egypt, and Amor Yahyaoui: ICARDA

Partners: Agricultural Research Center (ARC-Egypt), ICARDA

Site characterization: Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) and wheat are key crops in Egypt, but their production is severely affected by several biotic stresses including viruses, aphids, rust and weeds, especially the parasitic weed Orobanche. Faba bean is the most important nutritive popular food crop in Egypt. It plays a major role in the Egyptian diet as a source of protein. In 1991, the total faba bean cultivated area in Beni-Suef governorate was 17,650 ha with an average yield of 2.7 t/ha. The cultivated area declined from 160,000 ha in 1992 to 104,000 ha in 1993 due to virus diseases. The virus is the Faba bean necrotic yellows virus (FBNYV) which produces leaf rolling and yellowing symptoms similar to Bean leaf roll virus (BLRV) but is far more prevalent and more serious than BLRV in faba bean, especially in Middle Egypt. In 1991/92 in Middle Egypt (especially in Beni-Suef governorate), the disease epidemic resulted in almost complete crop failure, a total loss of almost half the faba bean acreage with an average yield of 0.06 t/ha. In the following years, FBNYV continued to be an important disease for faba bean production. As a result, farmers ceased growing faba bean, and losses in Beni-Suef due to this virus were estimated at 20-25 % annually. According to 2000 records, the faba bean cultivated area in Beni-Suef governorate was only 800 ha as compared to 17,650 ha in 1991. Wheat is the most important cereal crop in Egypt. It is the basic staple food in urban and rural areas. The total wheat cultivated area in Beni-Suef governorate in 1999 was 48,300 ha, with an average yield of 6.9 t/ha. Wheat yield can be severely affected by aphids, rust and weed infestation.

Aphids are the most serious insects in both faba bean and wheat. Besides their direct damage, aphids transmit devastating virus diseases. The faba bean aphids Aphis craccivora, A. fabae and Acyrthosiphon pisum are major insect pests in Egypt. A. craccivora and A. pisum are vectors of FBNYV. The cereal aphids Rhopalosiphum padi, Schizaphis graminum and R. maidis could cause up to 30 % yield losses in wheat. These aphids are also vectors of Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) which is economically important and may cause high yield loss.

Agricultural Research Center (ARC) in Egypt in cooperation with ICARDA has an intensive work addressing the biotic stresses facing major food crops including faba bean and wheat. Promising results have been achieved in the area of aphid and virus control, rust control, weed management as well as other areas. The use of cultural practices such as crop rotation, adjustment in planting date, seed rate, rouging of infected plants play a major role in reducing the incidence of virus infection. Chemical treatment of aphids with appropriate insecticide as a foliar spray was found to be effective in an integrating pest management approach. Based on the results of several seasons, an integrated practice to control the main problem in faba bean and wheat is recommended for testing by farmers.

Entry points: a) Improved chickpea variety; b) Improved chickpea variety for Ascochyta blight control; c) Weed control; d) Appropriate fertilization; e) Appropriate planting/seed rate; f) Use of a drill for planting.

Table 6: Agreed 'best-bet' clusters of IPM options at Beni Suef, Egypt

Problems encountered	Research options	Farmers coping strategies
Chickpea
Virus diseases	Improved faba bean cultivar: Giza 429 and Giza 843. The two cultivars have moderate resistance to Orobanche Rouging of diseased plants early in the growing season	Planting local cultivar due to unavailability of the seed of the improved cultivar
Aphids	Chemical control of aphids	No aphid control
Orobanche/weeds	Improved faba bean cultivar: Giza 429 and Giza 843 which have moderate resistance to Orobanche Hand weeding: two times Early chemical control at 3 leaf stage, and at the beginning of tillering stage	Hand weeding and late chemical control at jointing stage or later
Fertilizer use/poor soils	Fertilizer application: 37 kg N + 71 kg P2O5/ha.	Arbitrary use of fertilizer without soil analysis
Planting	Seed rate: 150 kg/ha compared to farmers’ seeds of 90 kg/ha. Sowing date: late sowing during the last week of October	Seed rate of 90 kg/ha, hence low plant density to save seed Sowing date: early sowing which is often during the first week of October
Wheat
Virus diseases	Improved varieties: Sids 1 (salt tolerant), Sids 4 (early maturing, fit for late sowing after potato) and Beni-Suef 1 (rust resistant), all considered to be high yielding varieties.	Planting local cultivar due lack awareness of improved varieties
Aphids	Chemical control of aphids, if necessary	No aphid control
Orobanche/weeds	Chemical control of weeds	Hand weeding
Fertilizer use/poor soils	Fertilizer application: 175 kg N + 37 kg P2O5 and 60 kg K2O/ha.	Arbitrary use of fertilizer without soil analysis
Planting	Seed rate: 180 kg/ha for the variety Sids 1 and Sids 4	Arbitrary seed rate
Virus diseases	Improved varieties: Sids 1 (salt tolerant), Sids 4 (early maturing, fit for late sowing after potato) and Beni-Suef 1 (rust resistant), all considered to be high yielding varieties.	Planting local cultivar due lack awareness of improved varieties

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Farm-level implementation

To mainstream IPM pilot site gains, the SP-IPM teams up with other key players with relevant field experience to further increase the usefulness of research results through large scale field programs that focus on action by the farmers in the countries to produce impact at community levels. In 2002, for example, the SP-IPM, teamed up with the following partners in joint efforts to combat parasitic weeds in Africa-wide: FAORAFA, The Pan-African Striga Control Network (PASCON) the FAO Global IPM Facility (GIF) and Africa Union’s Semi-Arid Food Grain Research and Development program (AU/SAFGRAD)

The African-wide partnership project proposal is called "Sustainable integrated parasitic weed management in cereal-legume production systems in Africa" (SIPWEMA). SIPWEMA is a time-bound initiative of 12 pioneering countries in North, West, Central, East and Southern Africa, the CGIAR Systemwide Program on Integrated Pest Management (SP-IPM), FAO Agriculture Departmental Group of the Regional Office for Africa (FAORAFA), Pan-African Striga Control Network (PASCON), Semi-Arid Food Grain Research and Development (AU/SAFGRAD) program of the African Union, and the Global IPM Facility. These key partners are dedicated to break isolation barriers amongst themselves to bring benefits of prior research and outreach activities to reduce staggering cereal and legume food deficits caused by parasitic weed infestations in the production systems.

The parasitic weed problem is intimately associated with changes in intensity of land use. As population pressure has increased, subsequent demand for food production has increased, and land use has intensified. This intensification is reflected in greater use of cereal mono-cropping with little fallow to non-host crops. As a result, the extent and intensity of parasitic weed infestation have rapidly increased and become threats to food production.

In North Africa, for example, Orobanche attacks a wide range of key food legumes crops causing estimated average annual losses of up to US $15 million in individual countries. In West and Central Africa, Striga attacks a wide range of stable cereals and legumes causing estimated annual cereal losses of US $5 to 7 billion, affecting over 100 million people. Striga epidemic is a primary biotic constraint to maize production in Southern Africa countries. Drastic changes in the production practices are therefore required to reduce losses by means friendly to human health and the environment.

To be sustainable, parasitic weed management practices must improve crop yield, improve soil fertility and be acceptable to farmers even in the absence of parasitic weed infestation. Towards this end, the SIPWEMA focus is local capacity building to ensure rapid spread and farmer adoption of parasitic weed management practices Africa-wide. The short term aim of SIPWEMA is to reduce parasitic weed incidence and damage by at least 60% in a large number of farmers’ fields; in the medium term the project aims to increase cereal and food legume crop yields by 20-40% more than current cases of farmers’ practices; and in the long-term SIPWEMA aims to significantly reduce parasitic weed seed bank and remove land and soil degradation factors which aggravate the parasitic weed damage to crops.

SIPWEMA is building on several prior and on-going initiatives by national governments, sub-regional networks and research organizations to address a common challenge: develop a field program that breaks isolation barriers, promotes inclusive partnerships, and focuses on action by the participating countries to increase stakeholder ownership of processes and results and produce impact at the community level. Building on prior inter-African initiatives, SIPWEMA provides a coordinated platform for the key players to harmonize approaches, exchange of information, expertise, technical resources, and extrapolate proven results and experiences to new locations.

Working through regional, national and local focal points, SIPWEMA will harness complementary strengths of stakeholder groups to bring results of prior research to enhance farmers’ capacity to manage the parasitic weed problems against which traditional coping strategies continue to be ineffective. SIPWEMA will search for proven parasitic weed management options, adapt, harmonize, and promote the options. The activities will be driven by technical innovation, cohesive partnerships, and change in attitude across a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

SIPWEMA implementation will be through a set of horizontal rows of sub-regional activities to underpin vertical columns of a complementary set of location-specific activities in participating countries. Location-specific activities will be contingent upon and incremental to underpinning regional activities; subject to modular funding, the activities will be extended countries requesting assistance.

Over six years SIPWEMA will empower farmers in 28 countries to obtain highest return on production inputs and thereby contribute significantly to household and national food security and economies which are increasingly undermined by damaging infestations of the parasitic weeds. The primary beneficiaries are African men and women farmers with their immediate technical support groups. These partners will benefit from reduced pest load, increased capacity to manage cereal-legume production systems for higher and stable productivity and profitability, and foster healthy production environments.

Community-based feedback mechanisms will allow researcher organizations to re-define research agenda in a bottom-up manner to respond to emerging issues from the farmers’ field experiences, and strengthen international collaboration. The project’s exit strategy centers on capacity-building to increase scientific literacy in farming communities, and promote participatory extension to scale out/up gains and benefits.

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