Read at :
http://www.new-ag.info/developments/devItem.php?a=1824
Cowpea: bagging the bugs
A simple triple bag technology is helping smallholder farmers in Africa, who produce 70 per cent of the global production of cowpeas, to save more than 25 per cent of the crop currently lost each year to pests after harvesting. An important legume in the Sahelian tropical zones of Africa, cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) is an important protein source to the many lacking access to animal protein; the seeds contain upto 25 per cent protein and the leaves are a valuable fodder for livestock.
Cowpea is seen as being increasingly important in reducing malnutrition, and a recent four-year study by Miriam Otoo at the Agricultural Economics Department at Purdue University showed that there is significant value addition when cowpea is made into the deep-fried cakes known as akara and sold by women as street food in Niger and Ghana. Cowpeas could also prove a solution for farmers adapting to climate change because of its resilience in dry, hot conditions. But according to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), pests – particularly the Maruca vitrata pod borer – currently cause losses of up to US$300 million for smallholder farmers in Africa.
The triple bag
A technology developed by Purdue University in collaboration with African researchers, known as Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS), is literally ‘bagging’ the problem of cowpea bugs by using non-chemical, hermetic storage. PICS has been introduced in West, Central and East Africa where farmers are exposed to harmful chemicals while protecting their cowpea grains against insects. In Nigeria, Africa’s major producer with 1.5 million tons annually, net gains from not using pesticides have been estimated to be in the region of US$500 million.
(continued)
