By Steve Chauluka, contributor:
Scientists, agro-dealers, chemical experts and other stakeholders have developed farmer-friendly messages to guide the safe and responsible use of pesticides in the country.
This transpired during a week-long training held in Dedza District.
The messages—which have been developed under the Malawi Digital Plant Health Services (Madiphs) Project—focus on priority crops such as maize, tomato, cassava, groundnuts and banana.
Madiphs Research Associate Mercy Chinthalo said the initiative follows observations that many farmers continue to rely heavily on chemical control, despite ongoing promotion of integrated pest management (IPM) approaches.
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“We earlier developed a set of messages for pests, diseases and weeds. Those management messages strongly promoted integrated pest management strategies such as biological, cultural and physical control methods. However, we now know that most farmers in Malawi still resort to chemical use.
“We saw it fit to guide farmers properly. For example, if they identify the Fall Armyworm in a maize field or aphids in a groundnut field, they need to know the recommended pesticide, the correct application rate and the safety precautions to follow. Without that information, misuse becomes very easy,” Chinthalo said.
Pesticides Control Board Principal Monitoring and Enforcement Officer Lesten Banda acknowledged widespread challenges in pesticide handling across the country, including misuse in vegetables and maize, as well as improper fumigation practices.
“Pesticide handling in Malawi is challenging.
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“However, we want to make sure that our farmers are protected from the hazards of pesticides and that they are using the right type of pesticides. So, we would like to ask the owners of this MaDiPHS platform to ensure that these messages are delivered to farmers as quickly as possible. They also need to do quite a lot of awareness to different stakeholders, to farmers, be it smallholder farmers or large-scale farmers, so that they should have access [to services and pesticides],” Banda said.
Dedza Agro-Dealers Association Chairperson Simwaghile Musuku Mbewe admitted that farmers often request inappropriate pesticides for their crops, placing sellers in difficult positions.
“Often, farmers ask for the wrong pesticide. Now we are better equipped to guide them with the right information. I have learned about the waiting period before re-entering a field after spraying [chemicals] Sometimes you apply chemicals today and return to the same field the next day, which is unhealthy.
