Annex 4. Natural Pesticides That Have Been Commercialized

Other species

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  Use seed treated with systemic insecticide.
  
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  Soil solarization and tillage.
  

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  Light trapping of adults.
  
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  Ensure good soil drainage.
  
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  Inter-planting with alliums (onions, garlic).
  
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  Do crop rotation with a pulse, mustard or chiocory.
  
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  Sanitation: Remove crop residues after harvest.
  

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  Can use natural soil insecticides containing Beauveria bassiana.
  
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  A preventive seed treatment with thiamethoxam (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder) or imidacloprid (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  

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  At least 45 days post-emergence from treated seed, broadcast a spray with thiamethoxam (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder) or imidacloprid (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  

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  Destroy termite mounds in and near fields.
  
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  Excavation of mound tops and burning of straw to suffocate and kill the colony.
  
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  Dig out and remove the queen (the one with really fat abdomen).
  
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  Use baits: wood stakes treated with borates.
  
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  Seed treated with systemic insecticide.
  
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  Use composted instead of fresh mulch.
  

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  A preventive seed treatment with thiamethoxam (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder) or imidacloprid (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  
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  At least 45 days post-emergence from treated seed, rotate sprays with synthetic insecticides containing thiamethoxam (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder), chlorpyrifos, permethrin or imidacloprid (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  

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  If available, registered in Malawi and desired by MOAFS, insecticides containing the microbe Metarhizium anisopliae or synthetic chemicals called Insect Growth Regulators (IGRs) could be used.
  

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  Predatory thrips, Coccinellid beetles, Anthocorid bugs, and Staphylinid beetles are biological control agents that feed on both the larvae and adults.
  
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  Use resistant cultivars.
  
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  Flooding to submerge the infested field for 2 days as a cultural control practice is very effective against the rice thrips.
  

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  Use a preventive seed treatment with thiamethoxam (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder) or imidacloprid (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  
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  At least 45 days post-emergence from treated seed, rotate among insecticides containing thiamethoxam (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder), spinosad, permethrin or imidacloprid (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  

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  Use of resistant cultivars.
  
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  Destruction of infested residue.
  
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  Use of certified clean or non-infested seed.
  
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  Water seeding (not drill seeding).
  
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  Continuous flooding.
  
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  Avoid using excess nitrogen.
  

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  Do not plant too early or too late.
  
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  Avoid close planting in nurseries.
  

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  Use application of synthetic fungicides containing metalaxyl.
  

Flea Beetles (Chaetocnema varicornis) and other beetles

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  Use resistant cultivars as they are developed, such as SSD-1, SSD-3, SSD-5, SSD-7, SSD-35.
  
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  Use certified disease-free treated (for diseases and flea beetles) seed.
  
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  Many predators control the flea beetle vectors of RYMV, so avoid over-spraying for insect vectors
  
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  Manage the vectors of RYMV by using synthetic pyrethroid pesticides (get RUP training and avoid getting pyrethroids into the water)
  

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  Control the flea beetles that transmit the virus.
  

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  A preventive seed treatment with thiamethoxam (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder) or imidacloprid (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  
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  At least 45 days post-emergence from treated seed, broadcast a spray with thiamethoxam (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder), spinosad, imidacloprid (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder), or deltamethrin.
  

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  Perform thorough land preparation (soil tillage, fertilizer, and water management).
  
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  Narrow row spacing makes the crop more competitive than the weeds, use intercropping.
  
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  Place the fertilizer in such a way that the crop has access to it but the weeds do not. This allows the crop to be more competitive with weeds.
  
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  Keep the surroundings of farm free of weeds, unless they are maintained and intended as habitats for natural enemies of crop pests.
  

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  Regularly clean farm tools.
  

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  Use green manure, which chokes out weeds.
  
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  Use intercropping.
  

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  Hand weeding, hoeing and composting (do not compost weeds that have flowered and set).
  

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  Minimizing weed competition during the early stages of the crop, before it has formed a closed leaf canopy, is particularly important. In upland rice this critical period is approximately 15-40 days after seeding, while in transplanted rice, the crop can form a canopy more rapidly. Where a crop is exposed to prolonged weed competition during this critical period it is not usually able to recover sufficiently to give a good yield.
  
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  Pre-emergence: use an herbicide containing pendimethalin plus hand weeding/hoeing.
  
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  Post-emergence: use an herbicide containing bentazone or trichlopyr selectively control broadleaves and sedges.
  

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  Maize stalk borers (Busseola fusca)
  

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  Natural enemies of larvae include parasitoids Braconid family of parasitic wasps, wasps of the genus Cotesia, and Tachinid fly larvae. Trichogramma parasitoids attack eggs of stalk borers. Predators include ground beetles, lacewing larvae and adults, praying mantis and weaver ants.
  
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  Use borer-resistant varieties.
  
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  Use crop rotation and intercrop maize with cowpea or groundnut.
  
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  Plant early at the beginning of rains or within 2 weeks.
  

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  Sanitation: Remove and destroy stalks by burning, feeding to cattle or composting.
  

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  Apply imidacloprid or thiamethoxam to seed or growing plant, or apply acetamiprid to the plant (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  
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  If they become registered, use natural pesticides containing BT toxin or spinosad (both extracts from soil microbes) between the egg stage and leaf-feeding stage (before they bore into the stem).
  
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  Can use synthetic insecticides containing lambda-cyhalothrin.
  

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  Cutworm species
  (Agrotis ipsilon, Agrotis segetum)
  

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  Natural enemies include Braconid wasps (Cotesia spp. and others) and Tachinid fly larvae. Predators include ground beetles, lacewings, praying manits and weaver ants.
  
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  Removal of weeds in and around fields two weeks before planting.
  
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  Use pheromone traps.
  
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  Use crop rotation--plant alfalfa or beans after maize.
  
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  Interplant main crops with onion, garlic, peppermint, coriander, or garlic every 10-20 rows to repel cutworms. Sunflowers and cosmos can also be planted as a trap crop in or around fields.
  

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  Botanical and homemade extracts include neem.
  
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  Use sprays of BT, if and when they become registered and available.
  
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  Find ‘hot-spots’ (places of high infestation) and treat only those hot spots with permethrin.
  
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  Can use synthetic insecticides containing lambda-cyhalothrin.
  

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  Armyworms (Spodoptera exempta)
  

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  Natural enemies include parasitoid Braconid and Cotesia wasps and Tachinid flies as well as damsel bugs, ground beetles, lacewings and weaver ants.
  
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  Remove weeds from bordering fields and on field borders.
  
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  Sanitation: Remove all plant debris after harvesting.
  
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  Pheromone traps placed along the edges of fields may be used to monitor adult moths. This is a particularly good technique for detecting large emergences or migrations occurring on weather fronts.
  
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  Start monitoring before seedlings emerge by checking for egg masses and young larvae in surrounding weeds.
  

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  Botanical and homemade water extracts include chili, garlic, and neem seed.
  
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  Use sprays of BT, if and when they become registered and available.
  
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  To reduce development of resistance, regularly rotate chemicals to different chemical families.
  
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  Can use synthetic insecticides containing lambda-cyhalothrin.
  

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  False Wireworms (larvae of click beetles)
  

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  White grub/Fat John (Phyllophaga spp, and Heteronychus spp)
  

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  Do scouting and monitoring to determine pest presence, quantity and damage.
  
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  Do weed control in and around field.
  
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  Do crop rotation.
  

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  Cultivation, flooding, and dry fallowing can help reduce populations.
  
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  Avoid fields with a history of wireworm damage
  
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  Summer fallow will reduce wireworm numbers by drying the soil.
  
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  Low-lying, sandy fields tend to have the most problems, and click beetles seem to return to the same fields to lay eggs.
  

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  Use synthetic seed treatment or spray systemic insecticides containing imidacloprid (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  
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  Can use synthetic insecticides containing lambda-cyhalothrin.
  

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  Maize black flea beetles (Chaetocnema species)
  

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  Natural parasites include Braconid wasps. Natural predators include crickets and lacewings.
  
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  Remove and destroy or compost all plant residues.
  
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  Plant the barrier crop along the edges of the field ahead of the main crop. Radish and Chinese mustard are good trap crops.
  

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  Keep fields weed-free, particularly of field bindweed and mustard, which are preferred hosts of flea beetles. Heavily damaged fields should be replanted.
  
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  White or yellow sticky traps placed in every 5-10 m on the rows.
  
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  Thick mulch in isolated planting interferes the larva's feeding activities.
  

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  Botanical and homemade water extracts of neem may provide effective control.
  

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  Apply imidacloprid or thiamethoxam to seed or growing plant, or apply acetamiprid to the plant (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  

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  Termites (Microtermes spp., Macrotermes spp., Allodontermes spp., and Odontotermes
  

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  Baits: wood stakes treated with borates
  
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  Insecticide seed treatment.
  
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  Use composted instead of fresh mulch.
  
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  Hand dig out nest to kill queen, insecticide poured into nest.
  

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  Can spray imidacloprid (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  

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  Maize Leafhoppers (Cicadulina spp. Especially Cicadulina mbila (transmits MSV)
  

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  Maize Streak Virus (MSV)
  

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  Plant early and maintain a maize-free period over the winter months.
  
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  Practice proper field sanitation. Many cereal crops and wild grasses serve as reservoirs of the virus and the vectors. Free area of weeds and remove all plant debris after harvest to remove the possible breeding sites of adults.
  
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  Prepare a healthy soil to grow healthy plants. Healthy plants can withstand leafhoppers' feeding damage.
  
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  Practice crop rotation: do not plant maize after maize. Remove all volunteer maize plants that grow in new plantings of rotation crops.
  
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  Properly rotate crops that are not susceptible to leafhoppers.
  

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  Use reflective mulches
  

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  Try botanical and homemade water extracts of garlic and neem.
  

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  No synthetic insecticides are recommended or cost-effective, however synthetic insecticides containing imidacloprid could be used (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder).
  

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  Gray leaf spot, Cercospora zeae-maydis
  

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  Select moderately resistant hybrids.
  
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  Do not plant maize too late.
  
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  Control weeds. This will help to increase airflow and dry the canopy faster, thereby reducing the environment favorable for infection.
  
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  Sanitation: Remove and destroy or compost maize stalk/leaf residues.
  
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  Continuous maize and no-till or reduced-tillage systems are at high risk for disease development because of the amount of residue they leave on the soil surface.
  
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  A one-year rotation away from maize, followed by tillage is recommended to prevent disease development in the subsequent maize crop.
  
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  In no-till or reduced-till fields with a history of gray leaf spot, a two-year rotation out of maize may be needed to reduce the amount of disease in the following maize crop.
  

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  Can use synthetic fungicides containing propiconazole.
  

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  Diplodia ear rots (Gibberella zeae, Fusarium graminearum, G. fujikuroi)
  

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  Use resistant hybrids.
  
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  Reduce ear and kernel damage from insects and birds.
  

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  No fungicides are recommended.
  

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  Leaf Blight (Helminthosporium turcicum)
  

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  Use resistant or tolerant varieties or hybrids.
  
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  Maintain soil and plant health (test these with lab tests).
  
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  Sanitation: destroy infected crop residues.
  
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  Rotate maize with other crops.
  

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  No fungicides are recommended
  

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  Rust (Puccinia sorghi)
  

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  Use resistant hybrids
  
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  Have proper plant spacing by following the recommended planting distances. This enables light penetration and air flow
  
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  Have a healthy and well-balanced soil
  
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  Always practice proper field sanitation (remove and compost crop stubble)
  
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  Control weeds
  
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  Practice crop rotation by alternating crops of non-related family groups during every cropping season
  
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  Sanitation: Remove heavily infected plants and post-harvest residues and compost or burry.
  

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  If needed, and registered, pesticides containing mancozeb or propiconazole can be used.
  

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  Smut (Ustilago maydis and Sphacelotheca reiliana)
  

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  Although no maize variety is immune, some hybrids and varieties are more resistant than others.
  
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  Avoid mechanical injuries to plants.
  
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  Maintain well-balanced soil fertility.
  
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  Rotate to another crop, the longer the better.
  
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  Use of disease-free seeds that are selected from healthy mother plants
  
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  Split nitrogen applications
  
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  Removal and proper disposal of infected plant debris.
  
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  Avoid field activities when the plants are wet.
  
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  Control insect pests that may transmit smut.
  

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  Fungicides are generally not used for most smuts.
  

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  Use vaccination.
  

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  No disinfectants are recommended.
  

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  Sanitation: Clean up and remove all animal waste.
  
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  Use clean syringes if blood entry or transfer occurs.
  

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  Treat cattle with acaricides containing a pour-on formulation deltamethrin.
  

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  Reduce any injuries to the cattle hides, skin or horns.
  
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  Monitor cattle daily for wounds or fly larvae.
  

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  Remove fly larvae manually.
  

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  Use a synthetic insecticide bait containing imidacloprid (but only when plants are in vegetative state, not when flowering due to risk to pollinators and honeybee colony collapse disorder) on windowsills and shelves in barn.
  

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  Maintain clean technique when milking.
  
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  Clean milking equipment daily.
  

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  Treat animal teats with a solution of chlorine or iodine and lanoline.