Assessment of Climate Resilience of Tomato Production Using Climate Smart Pest Management Technologies, Uganda

Abstract

For many years, pest management has been a big problem in Africa, especially in Uganda. Pest proliferation has been exacerbated by climate change. With temperature rise, change in rainfall patterns, and change in humidity and windspeed patterns, the pest's metabolism is modified, increasing their proliferation and resistance to pesticides. Farmers in Uganda for a long time have been using agrochemical products for pest management which are not environmentally friendly. The study was conducted in Mbale and Namutumba, among Uganda's tomato-growing districts. Some of the invasive insect pests recorded during the study were Tuta absoluta, spider mite, thrips, aphids, and American bollworms. This study's general objective was to assess tomato production's climate resilience using climate-smart pest management technologies. The three study's specific objectives were, respectively, to determine climate change trends and effects on tomato invasive insect pests; identify opportunities and challenges associated with Climate Smart Pest Management (CSPM) technologies, and assess the perception of smallholder farmers on the role of digital tools in the implementation of CSPM. The study used a mixed research design. The study utilized temperature, rainfall, humidity, windspeed data (1981-2020), and household surveys (N=410). Trend analysis, Mann-Kendall test, Pearson's correlation, and Generalized Linear Model (GLM-quasi-Poisson) were used for data analysis for the first objective while Factor Analysis, percentages, means, and frequencies were used for the second objectives data analysis. For the third objective, expect the percentages, regression analysis was used during data analysis. The data shows that the climate has changed in Mbale and Namutumba, and temperature, rainfall, humidity, and windspeed have contributed to the increase of invasive insect pest occurrence in the districts. The results showed an increasing annual temperature trend in Kampala and Namutumba and some abnormalities in Mbale over the last 40 years by 0.04oC. The rainfall increased significantly in Kampala (0.24 mm/year) and Mbale (0.0011mm/year), with a significant decrease in the humidity in Kampala and Namutumba with an increased rate of 0.05 m s−1 and 0.003 m s−1, in Kampala and Namutumba during the study period. Though there was a shifting in humidity pattern in the three districts, the study revealed in Mbale and Namutumba, humidity has decreased with an increase in pests. The concurrent variations in all the variables are likely to have a low effect on the pest occurrence (p= 0.054). This change has affected the tomato farmers in Mbale and Namutumba who turned to CSPM technologies. The study found that CSPM technologies have contributed to the adaptation of climate change effects on tomato production, such as reducing chemical use, decreasing pest density in their farms, and improving crop yield while lowering the environmental pollution. At the same time, our study noticed some key challenges/barriers to the upscaling of CSPM by farmers, such as cultural beliefs, lack of strong publicity from the national government, and lack of good infrastructure like roads and good markets. The results conclude there is a need for providing digital tools to farmers to help sensitise the importance of CSPM technologies and their dissemination and upscale. The study recommends that policies emphasise strengthening the agricultural extension services and supporting the dissemination of CSPM technologies. Capacity enhancement and availability of digital tools and access to agricultural information tailored to the needs of farmers are needed for upscaling CSPM technologies practices.