Yes

To effectively implement subsurface fertilisation, the following should be carried out. Use of briquette machines to produce 1 to 3 grams of briquettes that are larger than conventional fertiliser granules is recommended:

• Step 1: Prior to application, dig small holes 7 to 10 centimetres deep along planting rows in drained rice paddy or regular field, ideally located in the centre between a location where four plants will be planted.
• Step 2: Place the briquettes in the whole, below the soil surface, and cover with dug soil.
• Step 3: Crops should be planted within seven days of fertiliser application.

Following are the main steps for making your own briquettes. Making briquettes leading up to planting is more effective, as they are not stored for too long. A standard briquette machine can be purchased for between USD 3,000 and USD 6,000.

• Step 1: Collect manure from cow and/or horse waste.
• Step 2: Allow the manure to moderately dry (so it is possible to handle), but not for extensive periods, otherwise it will degrade. Keep manure out of direct sunlight, or when processing, remove the outer layer before manufacturing briquettes, and do not leave exposed, especially during rainy periods.
• Step 3: Press manure into briquettes using briquette press machine – see directions below to make your own home-press.
• Step 4: Allow the briquettes to dry in a cool, dry location, and store for later use.

To make your own large manure briquette press using household items, follow the instructions below:

• Step 1: Cut the top off a straight-sided 2-litre plastic soft drink bottle at the top of straight side.
• Step 2: Obtain a tinned food can that is just smaller than the diameter of the bottle. Preferably leave tin un-opened.
• Step 3: Line the bottle with a plastic bag.
• Step 4: Place slightly damp manure (cow, horse or both) inside the bag, inside the bottle, filling the space.
• Step 5: Place tin on top of manure.
• Step 6: Place small plank of wood on top of the tin.
• Step 7: Place your foot on top of the piece of wood, and slowly apply pressure to the tin, pressing the manure down, adding more manure if it compresses further than the depth of the tin.
• Step 8: When the manure will compress no more, remove plank and tin, and draw the compressed manure from the bottle, removing the plastic bag to reveal a cylinder of compressed manure.
• Step 9: Slice with a sharp knife to discs 2 to 3 cm thick, and use a piece of 2 cm diameter metal or plastic pipe to punch a hole through each disc. Reuse the
• Step 10: Allow to air dry as individual rings in a cool dry place. As soon as they are strong enough, you can hang the rings on wire to continue to dry. Use in fields within a month of manufacture. The ring increases surface area, and speeds-up the drying process.

To effectively leverage banding and micro-dosing for maize and sorghum, the following should be carried out. When handling fertilisers, always ensure that safety precautions provided on the packaging are followed.

Banding – suitable when wishing to save on fertiliser expenditure, but still need to improve production of primary and secondary crops.

• Step 1: Plough the field using a draught animal-drawn or mechanised plough to carefully open furrows. Depending on availability of mechanised equipment, a narrow hoe can also be used if manual labour is favoured. This can reduce workload and minimise soil disturbance but may require more effort.
• Step 2: Count furrows and measure length to ensure that you have sufficient fertiliser for area, based on recommended application amounts (see packaging or see advice from supplier).
• Step 3: Apply fertilisers as a strip or line (band) along the furrow.
• Step 4: Turn furrow back over ensuring that the fertiliser is present at a depth of 5-8cm below the soil surface and covered by the soil. The basal fertiliser should not touch the seed as it may burn it and disturb its germination.

Micro-dosing: suitable when fertiliser is in short supply.

• Step 1: in the field, at the time of planting, prepare small pits 5 to 8 cm deep where each seed is to be placed.
• Step 2: measure approximately 6 grams of fertiliser using a bottle cap or a three-finger pinch.
• Step 3: place the micro-dose in the small pits.
• Step 4: cover fertiliser with a small amount of soil, then place the seed. Cover fully with soil and water, or allow rain to wet the ground.
• Where manure is available, Zai pits can be used to improve organic matter at the same time. Prior to planting, dig the small pit and fill with manure. When rains begin, fertiliser and seed are placed in the hole and covered.
• The practice includes the advantage of banding by placing the fertiliser below the seed but at a single point instead of a row.

To effectively leverage integrated pest management:

• Step 1: Identify damage and responsible pest. Regular crop monitoring is important, to ensure early identification. Bottle traps are useful for capturing samples to examine and identify a pest.
• Step 2: Learn about the pest and host life cycle and biology.
• Step 3: Monitor or sample environment for pest population.
• Step 4: Establish action threshold. If aiming to tackle weed infestation, intervention must occur before the weed matures and begins spreading seeds. Some thresholds are high. For example, if dealing with caterpillars, soya beans can tolerate a certain level of defoliation without it impacting crop yield.
• Step 5: Identify IPM response tactics.
  • Cultural methods –planting crops that are adapted or suited to conditions and responding to their water, nutrient and shelter needs.
  • Physical methods – mechanical weeding, such as mechanical weeding or using organic or plastic mulch to cover the ground to reduce weed presence/success.
  • Genetic methods – selecting modified or adapted pest-resistant varieties.
  • Biological methods – using natural predators, push-pull approaches, intercropping, etc. and use of use of organic pesticides.
  • Chemical methods – considering all levels of toxicity – from pheromone deterrents to conventional pesticides.
• Step 6: monitoring for ongoing efficacy, and adjustment of tactics where relevant/necessary.  Aiming at all times to use chemical pesticides rationally and as a very last resort.

In the cases where chemical pesticides are used as part of an IPM strategy, the Agri-Intel website is an invaluable resource, which provides detailed chemical management advice: https://www.agri-intel.com.

To effectively leverage flooding irrigation:

• Step 1: prepare the field, digging parallel furrows and raising beds with the excess soil. Crops are planted in beds, and the irrigation water will flow in the furrows.
• Step 2: Using a pump or gravity fed water storage, allow water to flow into the field, flooding furrows.
• Step 3: Insert a fine mesh or introduce a hessian sack at the in-flow point to trap weeds and pests.
• Step 4: Water release should be moderated so as not to flow too fast and erode beds, and too slow such that it remains trapped at the in-flow point.
• Step 5: Water release can be more effective if released in surges, taking advantage of infiltration rates and capillary action in soil.
• Step 6: Observe progress. Avoid leaving soil crusts, which will make water rush over.

A sustainable water source must be identified and a pumping/irrigation system should be used.

To effectively leverage chemical use of organic control measures:

• Organic pesticides must be made based on the type of pests that attack the field along with their productivity rate.
• Equipment needed. Small measures (teaspoons or baking measures), plastic cup, plastic bucket (>1 litre), stirring rod or large spoon/spatula. Spray bottles or back-pack pump spray. Tools used in the field must be cleaned properly to avoid attracting other pests
• When spraying, wear goggles, gloves and disposable masks, and avoid spraying on windy or rainy days.
• It is recommended that any spray is tested before large-scale application. Spray and leave for 24 hours to see if treatment is effective.

a. Basic neem oil spray insecticide: effective against aphids, whiteflies, snails, nematodes, mealybugs, cabbage worms,  gnats, moths, cockroaches, flies, termites, mosquitoes, and scale.

• Step 1: Mix 1 cup of vegetable oil with 1 tablespoon of liquid soap in a plastic beaker or cup (cover and shake thoroughly),
• Step 2: When ready to apply, mix oil spray mix with 1 litre of water,
• Step 3: Pour spray mix into a spray bottles or a back-pack pump spray,
• Step 4: Shake thoroughly, and spray directly on the surfaces of affected plants. The oil coats the bodies of the insects, effectively suffocating them, as it blocks the pores through which they breathe.
  - Use mixture within eight-hours.

b. Garlic spray: a general organic insecticide that kills most insects.

To effectively leverage biological control and encourage natural predators:

• Step 1: Conduct regular monitoring using field walk-throughs and utilise bottle traps with various lures/baits to identify main pests on crops in order to identify any pests.
• Step 2: Once the pests have been identified, consult with national research institutes to identify the best natural predators, or biological control agents* to address the particular pests. It is critical to understand what options are available and costs associated with each option.
• Step 3: Implement according to advice received.
• Step 4: Monitor progress in terms of reduction in numbers and incidences.
• Step 5: Adjust the approach based upon observations from the fields.

A farmer must study the lifecycles of insect predators and be aware of pests that feed on his/her crops in order to identify the intervention that will the most effective in controlling pests at difference phases of their lifecycles. Farmers can create welcoming environments for certain predators to attract them to the field area

To effectively use mechanical bottle traps, the following should be carried out:

Bottle-trap

• Step 1: Obtain 2L plastic water or soft-drink bottles.
• Step 2: Rinse bottles thoroughly to avoid contents affecting lure.
• Step 3: Cut bottle horizontally using sharp scissors or knife, ensure that the top-half is slightly shorter than lower-half.
• Step 4: Turn the shorter top-half upside down and insert into lower-half ensuring the top- half does not touch the lower surface of the bottom-half.
• Step 5: Poke holes in both sides, penetrating both layers (top and bottom halves) and insert string, cord, or wire to create a handle.
• Step 6: Hang on tree branches or on thick wire or wooden stands around field perimeter and in larger fields within fields.

Specially designed all army worm traps can be purchased at agricultural suppliers. Farmers may also need a magnifying glass to identify insects.

Lures or bait

• Step 1: Identify the types of insect or pest you wish to lure, to ensure the correct mix.
  • For fall army worms, use a pheromone lure – which should be purchased from an agricultural supplier.
  • For maize stalk/stem-borers, again pheromone bait is the most effective.
  • Flies are attracted by sugar-based solutions, or protein (meat) based for carrion flies.
  • Fruit flies are attracted by ripe-fruit, cider vinegar, beer and wine.
• Step 2: Place 2 to 4 cm of lure at the bottom of the lower half of the bottle, depending on size of the bottle – the larger the bottle, the more lure. Ensure that the lure smell must be strong, but not too intense so that it attracts insects rather than chasing them away.
• Step 3: Use only one lure per bottle trap as more than one might cause contamination leading to ineffective attractants.
• Step 4: Clearly mark bottles indicating the type of lure in use – permanent marker pen.

Use of disposable gloves is advisable when handling lures.

Unopened pheromone lure packets should be kept in a cool, dry places – preferably a refrigerator.

To effectively implement  mechanical weeding:

• Step 1: Farmers should be able to identify weeds resistance to herbicides.
• Step 2: Examine fields to understand level of weed infestation – can they be easily and effectively removed using a hoe, without spreading seeds, or will manual weeding be necessary.
• Step 3: Attempt to quantify the amount of labour needed. Can the work be completed by the adults on the farm, or will additional labour be required? Will youths be involved in weeding? Will they miss school?
• Step 4: Begin removal of weeds, ensuring that weeds are uprooted and removed from the field to avoid regeneration. A hoe must have a long handle to be able to work effectively and the hoe blade must not be too sharp in order to cut weeds without going through crops and spreading seed and cuttings.
• Step 5: Weeding should take place a minimum of three times over the growing season – one week before planting crops, three weeks after planting (when the crop has two to three leaves), and two months after planting (milk-stage ). The aim is to reduce or eliminate the product of seeds in the weed plants.
• Step 6: Draft animal-drawn cultivators can reduce labour requirements but should only be used to cultivate soil to a shallow depth, retaining soil structure, but not disturbing soil. Weeds should be collected by hand afterwards. Deeper tilling or turning of the soil with the wrong implement may cause more harm than good.
• Step 7: Weeding must be sustained year on year to reduce prevalence. It is important to caution farmers that results may not be seen in significant reduction of plants until year-two of a weeding programme.
• Step 8: Obnoxious weeds – such as Striga, etc – should be burned once pulled, preferably away from the field, in order to eradicate their presence.

To effectively implement  short term reactive practices:

• Step 1: Inspecting the crop regularly and systematically by walking through the field following an M-shaped pattern will ensure that the farmer does not just look around the edges, but also inspects in the middle of the field.
• Step 2: Farmers should carefully examine the crops for any signs of pests/diseases. They may be able to identify the presence of pests or disease through observing the following:
  • If the plant is wilted.
  • Are the leaves more yellow than usual?
  • Are the crops smaller than usual?
  • Do the leaves have spots?
  • Have parts of the plan died?
• Step 3: Once the foreign specie has been identified, the farmer should employ a method to eradicate the issue thoroughly and immediately.

To effectively implement  push and pull systems:

• Step 1: Plant Napier and a legume like Desmodium or molasses grass  between every three rows of maize/sorghum as barriers to repel stemborers away from crops.
• Step 2: Plant the Desmodium first as soon as the rains begin, so it immediately repels the stalk borers before the maize/sorghum emerge.
• Step 3: Plant three rows of Naiper grass around the borders of maize field.
• Step 4:  Allow pest enemies such as ants and spiders to enter the field to feed on stemborers.
• Step 5: Cut grass and fed to animals as forage.
• Step 6:  Abandon areas that are heavily affected by stemborers until treated.