Title : Banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus) devastating banana production in Kenya
Abstract:
Horticulture is the leading agricultural sub-sector, in Kenya, with fruits accounting for 32% of the sector. Banana fruit is a major horticultural crop accounting for 17.8% and 34.5 of domestic horticulture's total value and all fruits respectively. The crop bears fruit all year round and it is climate change resilient. Thus the fruit plays a key role in food security and is an important cash crop. Despite this economic importance, banana production is constrained by major pests including banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus). The pest damages the banana through sucker death, toppling under the slight wind, shortened crop lifetime, and reduced bunch size leading up to 100% loss in yield if not properly managed. The pest affects all varieties of bananas and plantains. A spot check was conducted in some banana growing areas including Meru, Tharaka Nithi, and Nyeri to identify major pests affecting bananas. An on-site pest check was performed on farmers' fields using a checklist, pest presence, and damage were observed, and destructive sampling was also done. The study found that banana weevils, as the primary pests devastated banana production in the surveyed fields. Banana weevil was reported as a major pest in all three regions of study. The study results indicated the inability of farmers to differentiate banana weevil infestation signs from nematode and banana disease symptoms. This contributed to ineffective banana weevil identification and management. The study concluded that banana weevil was a significant challenge, endangering food security, nutrition, and farmers' livelihoods in the country. Therefore, there is a need to support farmers in banana weevil infestation identification and integrated pest management (IPM) training through farmer business field school establishment and provision of educational materials.
Keywords: Horticulture, Banana, food security, Banana weevil, Integrated Pest Management
