Department of Agriculture

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Browsing Department of Agriculture by Author "Chemutai Deborah"

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    Farmers’ perceptions towards cultural methods for control of maize weevils (sitophilus zeamais) in tegeres sub county, kapchorwa district
    (Busitema University, 2024) Chemutai Deborah
    The Maize weevils (Sitophilus zeamais) was a common harmful pest insect that infested stored food products in the modern world. Although all three species were cosmopolitan insects that caused great damage to human products then, they were thought to be those insects that originated from the forest in the southern foothills of Himalayas, diverged from the same ancestor, and had spread across the old world along with the beginning of agriculture. Maize grain loss in Uganda was estimated to be about 20–40% losses during cultivation and 30–90% post-harvest and storage losses (Odendo et al., 2001). The maize weevil was the most common storage pest of maize in Kapchorwa, and especially in the Tegeres sub-county. The specific objectives were: To find out the cultural methods employed when controlling maize weevils by farmers in Tegeres Sub-county, Kapchorwa district, to determine farmer’s perceptions towards different cultural methods used to control maize weevils, to assess the challenges faced by farmers in applying cultural methods and to suggest possible solutions to the challenges faced by farmers in applying cultural methods. Some farmers believed that cultural methods, such as properly drying and storing maize produce, effectively controlled maize weevils. Cultural methods referred to non-chemical control methods such as crop rotation, intercropping, and storage practices. Infestation of maize beetle was reduced by good store hygiene, such as cleaning the store between harvests. While chemical pesticides had been widely used to control maize weevils, their use was often associated with health and environmental concerns. Researchers had made progress in breeding maize varieties with enhanced resistance to weevil infestations. The researcher was able to use an interview guide as a tool which can enable her to adequately collect data from the field. Cross- sectional analysis was carried out to generate frequency, percentile, mean, median, mode, standard deviation and cumulative frequency