Intercropping and Habitat Management

Small-scale farmers in Africa practice intercropping or mixed cropping to reduce risk of crop failure, attain higher yields, and improve soil fertility. Although no studies have shown that farmers grow specific intercrops to reduce insect pests, some of these practices also lead to suppression of cereal stem borer populations. Studies in Kenya have concentrated both on the practice of intercropping cowpea with maize and sorghum, and on the ways in which these systems could be adopted by small-scale farmers in the region. Most studies on intercropping have shown a reduction in the incidence of stem borers. Maize/cassava intercropping systems in Nigeria were found to reduce by half larval numbers of stem borer populations. Unfortunately, many of these intercropping studies did not seek to determine the underlying mechanisms behind the effect of intercropping on stem borer populations. Intercropping maize with cowpea was an effective way of reducing damage caused by C. partellus, because...