Pest management practices and compliance to market stawndards among French Bean Farmers. 14th Conference on HAK, Nairobi, 1-5th December 2014

Abstract

The EU commission increased to 10% sampling and pesticide residue analysis of French beans and peas imported from Kenya. This resulted in a 25% dip in bean sales in January 2013. This study aimed at determining pest management strategies used by small scale French bean farmers. A survey to determine farmers’ pest management practices was done in Embu east and Mwea east district, where 32 and 38 farmers were from Embu east and Mwea east, respectively. The farmers considered French beans farming as an important source of income, and up to 50% of the farmers had been in French beans production for a period of three years and more. Most of farmers in the study area entirely relied on synthetic pesticides for pest and disease control. White fly was the major insect pest while rust was the major disease as identified by the majority of farmers. Less than 30% of the farmers were involved in the implementation of GLOBALGAP, with 3.1% of the farmers being certified. The findings showed that farmer’s pest management practices were incompatible with good agricultural practices and export market standards. There is a need to sensitize farmers on the use of alternative pest management strategies and requirements of the export market standards.