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Local agro-ecological knowledge and its relationship to farmers’ pest management decision making in rural Honduras

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Abstract

Integrated pest management (IPM) has been widely promoted in the developing world, but in many regions its adoption rates have been variable. Experience has shown that to ensure IPM adoption, the complexities of local agro-production systems and context-specific folk knowledge need to be appreciated. Our research explored the linkages between farmer knowledge, pest management decision making, and ecological attributes of subsistence maize agriculture. We report a case study from four rural communities in the highlands of southeast Honduras. Communities were typified by their agro-environments, IPM training history, and levels of infestation by a key maize pest, the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda Smith). Although variable, infestation levels generally did not justify pest management intervention. Consequently, crop losses from this pest were considered of low importance and most farmers proceeded in a rational fashion by refraining from action in their fields. Farmers attributed the low degree of pest infestation predominantly to abiotic causal factors (rainfall, temperature). The role of natural enemies in controlling this pest (i.e., biological control) was deemed of low importance by farmers; nevertheless, a broad array of such organisms was mentioned by farmers as operating in their maize crop. Farmers’ knowledge of natural enemies only partially matched scientific knowledge and was associated with the ecological features of their respective field settings. Local knowledge about natural enemies was mainly restricted to abundant and easily observable predatory species. Farmers who were knowledgeable about biological control were also familiar with a larger variety of pest management alternatives than uninformed farmers. Management options covered a wide range of curative techniques, including conservation biological control. Farmers who relied on insecticides to manage pest outbreaks knew less about biological control and pesticide alternatives. In contrast, farmers who received IPM training mentioned more types of natural enemies and were familiar with a broader range of alternative pest management tactics. Our research suggests that IPM training modifies local knowledge to better fit its environmental context. This paper provides insights in the environmental context of local agro-ecological knowledge and its linkage with pest management decision making. It also constitutes a basis for modifying IPM extension programs to deliver locality-specific technologies while strengthening the local knowledge base.

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Abbreviations

CIAL:

Comité de Investigación Agrícola Local (Local Agricultural Research Committee)

FAW:

fall armyworm

IPM:

integrated pest management

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Acknowledgments

C. S. Sadof, J. S. Yaninek, R. E. Foster, C. Krupke, W. Hoover and three anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments that improved the quality of the manuscript. P. Doyle assisted in defining this project and provided guidance and support throughout our research. J. W. Bentley provided invaluable help with the design of survey instruments while C. Zurita, N. Gamero and G. Aguirre facilitated the initial stages of farmer surveys in each community. This study was supported by a Purdue Research Foundation Fellowship grant (PRF-grant 6903757), a Global Initiative travel grant; a Ross Fellowship; and the Department of Entomology; Purdue University. We would also like to thank the Socio-Economics and Environment Department (DSEA) and the Plant Protection Department (DPV) at the Panamerican College of Agriculture El Zamorano (Tegucigalpa, Honduras). This is Purdue Agricultural Research Program manuscript number 2006-17867.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Kris A.G. Wyckhuys & Robert J. O’Neil

  2. University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

    Kris A.G. Wyckhuys

  3. 219 Hodson Hall, 1980 Folwell Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

    Kris A.G. Wyckhuys

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  1. Kris A.G. Wyckhuys
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  2. Robert J. O’Neil
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Correspondence to Kris A.G. Wyckhuys.

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Kris A. G. Wyckhuys is a Belgian bio-science engineer and entomologist currently employed as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota. For his PhD research at Purdue University he quantified social and ecological contributions to farmers’ adoption of insect pest management technologies in Honduran subsistence maize. He has a keen interest in the ecological facets of IPM and biological control, as well as in technological innovation in smallholder production systems, ethno-entomology and traditional pest management.

Robert J. O’Neil is a Professor of Entomology specializing in biological control, predator–prey dynamics, and implementing biological control in IPM systems. His current work focuses on the ecology and management of the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, an invasive pest of soybeans in North America.

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Wyckhuys, K.A., O’Neil, R.J. Local agro-ecological knowledge and its relationship to farmers’ pest management decision making in rural Honduras. Agric Hum Values 24, 307–321 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-007-9068-y

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