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Sci Tech
Companion planting to manage crop pests
By Our Agriculture Correspondent
African marigold is known to destroy nematodes in the soil.
WITH INCREASING awareness about the toxic and deleterious effects of chemical insecticides, farmers are looking into eco-friendly options to manage crop pests. Botanical insecticides, cultural practices and bio-control agents come in handy for them to keep the pests at bay.
Companion planting with repellent and trap crops is one among the safe, but sure ways to manage the insect pests of crops. Trap crops planted along the borders and on bunds help in attracting the key pests of crops, and the crop is removed along with the concentration of insects so that the main crop is saved from pest ravage. Repellent crops are plants with strong natural aroma with which they drive away the insect pests.
A number of plants such as African marigold, castor, coriander, legumes and certain cereals are grown extensively as trap crops to protect the main crop from sucking and chewing pests such as aphids, thrips and borers. African marigold (Tagetes sp) is grown along with tomato to trap Helicoverpa armigera and thrips. Similarly castor is raised along the borders of groundnut to lure the serious insect pests.
The popular repellent crops are garlic, onion and fennel. These plants are raised as intercrops in alternate rows with the main crop to ward off the pests. Traps crops and repellent crops are widely used in garden land crops where vegetables are grown. They are employed by practitioners of ecological agriculture and bio-dynamic gardening.
In dry land, some tall growing cereals are grown with groundnut, which help to attract all the major pests. The pests are then mechanically collected from these `antenna' crops, and destroyed.
Besides managing crop pests, the companion crops have also been found to help in arresting the spread of weeds. They also help to repel some soil-borne pests such as nematodes. African marigold has been known to destroy nematodes, and because of this property it is included as a companion crop in nematode infested fields, according to experts.
A number of such plants are being used in traditional agriculture, and now researchers and innovative farmers are delving deep in to the time honoured farming practices to dig out many such ecologically sound and economically viable solutions to tackle the crop pests.
The companion crops would blend well in the integrated pest management strategies for several high valued horticultural and plantation crops, and in the context of organic certification and export of premium organically grown agricultural commodities, such practices will be considered a boon for the farmers, according to experts.
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