Making strides against the menacing tomato pest (Tuta absoluta)
Smallholder tomato farmers in Zimbabwe have been battling to control the tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta, which is ravaging their tomato crops. Having failed to control the pest through frequent pesticide applications, and concerned about safety of their produce, thirteen smallholder tomato farmers in Mhangura, a town in Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe joined forces and formed an association, Sisonke Ag-Fresh, to support each other in the fight against this pest.
Staff from the national plant protection organization who had received training on identification and management of the pest through the EU-Funded project “Support Towards the Operationalization of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy’ (STOSAR), have been working with Sisonke Ag-Fresh to safely and sustainably manage this pest. The association is moving away from routine application of synthetic pesticides and now regularly scouts for the pest. They have introduced onions, green maize, rape and garlic to break the pests’ cycle, keep their fields free of alternative hosts of the pest and routinely select, remove and destroy infected plant material.
The farmers are beginning to realize benefits of this integrated approach with a reduction in field losses and pleasing results of laboratory tests for minimum pesticide residue levels (MRLs) carried out in South Africa. The association is upbeat and confident that they will succeed in their battle against the devastating pest and continue to produce tomatoes profitably. ‘Now we can see light at the end of the tunnel, we are winning the fight!” declared Mr. Nyikadzino, chairman of Sisonke Ag-Fresh.