120 community armyworm forecasters to boost Kenyan national system
23 February 2011
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Communities in Kenya who have been trained by an RIU-supported project to deploy traps to forecast armyworm outbreaks will soon be contributing the data they collect to supplement the official national forecasting system. The plan will increase the number of the traps used for forecasting armyworm by 30%.
Armyworm forecasting depends on deployment of simple plastic traps baited with a pheromone that attract male moths of the species Spodoptera exempta - the caterpillars of which are the voracious crop-eating armyworms. More than 30 moths caught in one trap in one week indicate that an outbreak of armyworm is imminent.
The Plant Protection Services Division of the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture has recently requested the Provincial Director of Agriculture in Eastern Province to work with communities conducting armyworm forecasting so that the data they collect can be used to strengthen the national system.
Through an RIU-supported programme, implemented by CABI-Africa, there are now 40 communities conducting armyworm forecasting in the province. The data they collect can now be added to that collected from the government's national forecasting system, which currently consists of 352 traps country-wide. This will both strengthen the national system and significantly improve forecasting at the provincial level.
Richard Musebe, of CABI-Africa, explains:
23 February 2011
Tweet
Communities in Kenya who have been trained by an RIU-supported project to deploy traps to forecast armyworm outbreaks will soon be contributing the data they collect to supplement the official national forecasting system. The plan will increase the number of the traps used for forecasting armyworm by 30%.
Armyworm forecasting depends on deployment of simple plastic traps baited with a pheromone that attract male moths of the species Spodoptera exempta - the caterpillars of which are the voracious crop-eating armyworms. More than 30 moths caught in one trap in one week indicate that an outbreak of armyworm is imminent.
The Plant Protection Services Division of the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture has recently requested the Provincial Director of Agriculture in Eastern Province to work with communities conducting armyworm forecasting so that the data they collect can be used to strengthen the national system.
Through an RIU-supported programme, implemented by CABI-Africa, there are now 40 communities conducting armyworm forecasting in the province. The data they collect can now be added to that collected from the government's national forecasting system, which currently consists of 352 traps country-wide. This will both strengthen the national system and significantly improve forecasting at the provincial level.
Richard Musebe, of CABI-Africa, explains:
"With 40 more trained communities in the Coast Province and another 40 soon to come on stream in Rift Valley, the forecasters trained with support from RIU will shortly provide an even greater boost to the national armyworm forecasting system in Kenya."Community forecasting of armyworm outbreaks has been moving up the political agenda since the Kenya Agriculture Minister, Hon Dr Sally Kosgei, backed this approach at the Winning the War Against Armyworm conference organised by CABI-Africa and held in Nairobi in May 2010.
| Latest report from Tanzania RIUtv correspondent: RIU funding is having the fight against armyworm in Tanzania, where community-based forecasters are accurately predicting outbreaks. May 2010 (8:45) |  |
