ICT-Enabled Approaches Have Aided in Fighting Fall-Armyworms

Armyworm infestation can be fought by making use of ICT-enabled approaches as the survey conducted in Kenya and Uganda has revealed.

The survey showed that ICT campaigns have improved the spread of ideas and knowledge on dealing with the pests that have proven to be a pain on the neck to the farmers and the whole agricultural sector.

These campaigns have stimulated the adoption of management strategies that have helped control the spread of the pests as opined by David Onyango, a plant-wise communications expert at Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International.

Fall Armyworm (Faw) had proven to be resistant due to the misconception by farmers about its spread and identity, making it hard to control and manage it.

According to Mr. Onyango, the use of radio and mobile phones is capable of providing wide coverage of management information in achieving the goal set.

A good number of farmers have embraced the use of ICT. About 80 percent of Kenyan farmers have tried it while Ugandan farmers are estimated at 75 percent of usage.

A short message service subscription was employed in Kenya, a platform which gave farmers instant advice about FAW. The service which was also adopted in Uganda reached about 400,000 farmers in the country.

This service was like a form of training that effectively helped to fight the widespread pests. “The training helped farmers identify FAW, hence helped in reducing misconception of the pest’s spread, “said Mr. Onyango, speaking at a forum in Nairobi.

ICT usage has also helped in fighting other crucial agricultural problems. In Kenya for example, the solution to prevent an elephant bull from wandering into farms and destroying crops was to tag the elephant with a device that sends a text message to when it crosses a geo-fence.

Using the technology of SMS and GPS, the elephant can roam freely and the security just gets alerted whenever it is near the geo-fence.