Abstract

Ecological intensification utilizes biodiversity to maintain agricultural yields while reducing negative environ-mental impacts. While pest management is a common goal of ecological intensification, studies examining ecologically intensified pest management systems over longer time scales are rare. Using the push-pull system in Western Kenya, we examine whether pest abundance (for both insects and parasitic weeds) and yield vary with time since a given push-pull field was established. With a total of 1880 data points from 476 unique farmers and 24 cropping seasons, we found that pests declined with time since establishment in both push-pull and nearby control fields, while yield improved with time since establishment in push-pull fields. Although this study did not directly address mechanisms, it seems likely that pests in the push-pull system are not successfully adapting to overcome its pest management effects given the continued declines in pest abundance over time. Our data suggest that ecologically intensified agriculture may be resilient against pest adaptation over time, maintaining consistently high yields.

Keywords

Ecological intensification; Sustainable agriculture; Integrated pest management; Companion crop; Long -term data; Maize; Zea mays; Stemborer; Striga hermonthica; Chilo partellus; Busseola fusca

Published in

Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
2023, Volume: 347, article number: 108345

SLU Authors

• Jonsson, Mattias

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

SLU Plant Protection Network


Sustainable Development Goals

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture


UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108345

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/121306