Farm with nature, says pest management expert

By Annelie Coleman | 15 October 2024 | 5:30 am

The agriculture sector in South Africa needs to change the way it thinks about pest management and biodiversity, according to Dr Johnnie van den Berg, manager of the integrated pest management programme at the Unit of Environmental Services of the University of North-West.

He said agriculture in its broadest form was driven by photosynthesis, calling for producers to farm with nature, based on ecologically sound principles.

Addressing the university’s School for Geo and Spatial Services’ Agriculture Industry Day, he said ecological principles covered the management of the interaction between living organisms in the soil.

READ Pest and disease control under shade netting

“Monocropping of maize, for instance, works against nature through the disturbance of the soil, eventually resulting in marked degradation of the soil. In my opinion, monocropping d heaven on earth for insect pests, which is detrimental to biodiversity and optimal production.

“Changing from monocropping to ecological production practices is what South African farmers need to do. Farming in sync with nature will allow their businesses to remain sustainable and profitable, even if they just start in small way initially,” Van den Berg said.

According to him, research showed that up to 77 000 insects could be found on a piece of soil as big as a conventional door in an ecologically healthy environment, while only 13 000 were found on the same size of land in a field where monocropping was practised. In both instances, 98% of the insects were beneficial to farmers, he said.

READ The importance of soil health in sustainable agriculture

“The headlands around crop fields form valuable islands of biodiversity on a crop farm. These strips are filled with rapacious insects such as predatory beetles and earwigs. Some of these insects move into the fields where they voraciously prey on crop-damaging pests such as cutworms. Cutworms are one of the most prominent maize pests in South Africa, especially in the Highveld region,” Van den Berg explained.