Overview

The study was conducted on-farm in the districts of Pallisa and Kumi, to determine the effect of integrating the use of synthetic and botanical pesticides in the management of cowpea field pests and bruchids, and to validate the established action threshold (AT) for flower thrips. The pesticides used in the study were cypermethrin (synthetic) and tobacco (botanical). Results indicated that the synthetic insecticide was more effective than the botanical in controlling pests and their associated damage, and in increasing yields. Combining tobacco and cypermethrin is beneficial when the former is applied at the podding stages since it is ineffective against flower thrips. It was also observed that combining synthetics and tobacco would be more economically beneficial than using synthetics alone since the yield difference between the cypermethrin treated and cypermethrin + tobacco treated plots was minimal. However, using tobacco alone gave lower yield gains but slightly higher than no spraying at all.