False codling moth, thaumatotibia leucotreta (meyrick) a new threat to horticulture industry: stakeholders’ perspectives on the status, impact and management in Kenya

Abstract

False codling moth (FCM) has emerged as a major constraint to the production of horticultural crops in Kenya and is currently the leading cause of interceptions of Capsicum and cut flowers exported to European Union. Use of pesticides to control this pest is not only unsustainable, uneconomical but also contributes to interceptions of export produce due to higher levels of pesticide residues in the produce. Further, due to cryptic nature of feeding by the pest, pesticides often do not result to efficient control. Growing crops under protected areas though effective is not affordable to smallholder resource poor farmers necessitating search for a holistic integrated approach to manage this pest. In order to gather baseline information about the pest and current practices being used to manage the pest, a national deliberative stakeholders’ workshop was held in August 2018 at Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Katumani, Machakos bringing together farmer organizations, research scientists, agricultural extension service providers, regulators, policy makers and farmers and followup national meetings and trainings to advance the workshop deliberations. The paper presents perspectives of different stakeholders on the status and impact of FCM in horticultural crops in Kenya.