Impact of ICT-based pest information services on tomato pest management practices in the Central Highlands of Kenya
Pests are a major threat to tomato producers globally, owing to the substantial yield losses, low-quality produce, and low profitability that they cause. Integrated pest management (IPM) has been promoted as a sustainable, effective, safe, and environmentally friendly approach to manage pests. Howev...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Sustainable Technology and Entrepreneurship |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773032822000360 |
| _version_ | 1797754832909500416 |
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| author | Evans Mwenda Elijah N. Muange Marther W. Ngigi Alice Kosgei |
| author_facet | Evans Mwenda Elijah N. Muange Marther W. Ngigi Alice Kosgei |
| author_sort | Evans Mwenda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pests are a major threat to tomato producers globally, owing to the substantial yield losses, low-quality produce, and low profitability that they cause. Integrated pest management (IPM) has been promoted as a sustainable, effective, safe, and environmentally friendly approach to manage pests. However, many tomato farmers in low- and medium-income countries still rely exclusively on synthetic pesticides. Moreover, many farmers rarely observe pre-harvest intervals (PHI) after applying pesticides, owing to lack of accurate and timely information on IPM and safe use of pesticides. Information and communication technologies (ICT) could bridge the information gaps on pests and their management and have been deployed in disseminating varied information to farmers worldwide. However, the effect of ICT on pest management practices has not been adequately evaluated. This study applies the propensity score matching (PSM) method to assess the impact of ICT-based pest information services (IBPIS) on the adoption of IPM and observance of PHI, using data collected from 170 Kenyan tomato farmers in 2021. The results show that 48.2% of the farmers adopted at least one IBPIS. Adoption of IPM was at 51.2% of the sample and significantly higher among adopters of IBPIS (64.6%) than non-adopters (38.6%). About 49% of the farmers observed PHI. Further, adopting IBPIS increased the number of pest control methods used by farmers by 22.8%, the proportion of farmers adopting IPM by 21.2%, and the observance of PHI by 61.7%. The study recommends that farmer advisory services incorporate multiple ICT tools to deliver pest information to farmers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:39:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d1b3ff1edb724c10814cdde2d3834761 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2773-0328 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:39:06Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sustainable Technology and Entrepreneurship |
| spelling | doaj.art-d1b3ff1edb724c10814cdde2d38347612023-08-04T05:51:27ZengElsevierSustainable Technology and Entrepreneurship2773-03282023-05-0122100036Impact of ICT-based pest information services on tomato pest management practices in the Central Highlands of KenyaEvans Mwenda0Elijah N. Muange1Marther W. Ngigi2Alice Kosgei3Department of Agricultural Sciences, Machakos University, P.O. Box 136-90100, Machakos, KenyaDepartment of Agricultural Sciences, Machakos University, P.O. Box 136-90100, Machakos, Kenya; Corresponding author.Department of Agricultural Sciences, Machakos University, P.O. Box 136-90100, Machakos, KenyaDepartment of Agricultural Sciences, Machakos University, P.O. Box 136-90100, Machakos, KenyaPests are a major threat to tomato producers globally, owing to the substantial yield losses, low-quality produce, and low profitability that they cause. Integrated pest management (IPM) has been promoted as a sustainable, effective, safe, and environmentally friendly approach to manage pests. However, many tomato farmers in low- and medium-income countries still rely exclusively on synthetic pesticides. Moreover, many farmers rarely observe pre-harvest intervals (PHI) after applying pesticides, owing to lack of accurate and timely information on IPM and safe use of pesticides. Information and communication technologies (ICT) could bridge the information gaps on pests and their management and have been deployed in disseminating varied information to farmers worldwide. However, the effect of ICT on pest management practices has not been adequately evaluated. This study applies the propensity score matching (PSM) method to assess the impact of ICT-based pest information services (IBPIS) on the adoption of IPM and observance of PHI, using data collected from 170 Kenyan tomato farmers in 2021. The results show that 48.2% of the farmers adopted at least one IBPIS. Adoption of IPM was at 51.2% of the sample and significantly higher among adopters of IBPIS (64.6%) than non-adopters (38.6%). About 49% of the farmers observed PHI. Further, adopting IBPIS increased the number of pest control methods used by farmers by 22.8%, the proportion of farmers adopting IPM by 21.2%, and the observance of PHI by 61.7%. The study recommends that farmer advisory services incorporate multiple ICT tools to deliver pest information to farmers.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773032822000360ICTIntegrated pest managementPest information servicePre-harvest intervalImpactTomato |
| spellingShingle | Evans Mwenda Elijah N. Muange Marther W. Ngigi Alice Kosgei Impact of ICT-based pest information services on tomato pest management practices in the Central Highlands of Kenya Sustainable Technology and Entrepreneurship ICT Integrated pest management Pest information service Pre-harvest interval Impact Tomato |
| title | Impact of ICT-based pest information services on tomato pest management practices in the Central Highlands of Kenya |
| title_full | Impact of ICT-based pest information services on tomato pest management practices in the Central Highlands of Kenya |
| title_fullStr | Impact of ICT-based pest information services on tomato pest management practices in the Central Highlands of Kenya |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of ICT-based pest information services on tomato pest management practices in the Central Highlands of Kenya |
| title_short | Impact of ICT-based pest information services on tomato pest management practices in the Central Highlands of Kenya |
| title_sort | impact of ict based pest information services on tomato pest management practices in the central highlands of kenya |
| topic | ICT Integrated pest management Pest information service Pre-harvest interval Impact Tomato |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773032822000360 |
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