IPM Packages for Vegetable Crops in Ghana

Tomatoes are a critical food source in Ghanaian dishes and an important cash crop. However, production in Ghana is beset with numerous constraints: losses due to pests, diseases, and weeds; lack of up-to-date technology and high yielding varieties; and misuse of pesticides. Tomato is sensitive to pest pressure and is therefore subjected to intense applications of synthetic pesticides, some of which are toxic. An integrated pest management (IPM) strategy was therefore put in place to minimize pest pressure, frequency, and rate of pesticide application to protect people and the environment. Fields that have been recently used for tomato production were avoided in the regions where the trials were conducted: Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, and Upper East regions. Early maturing and virus disease resistant/tolerant seeds from the United States including local checks were used. Tomato varieties Shasta, OPV1, and OPV5 and two local checks were used at Agogo and Akumadan in Ashanti, Tanoso, and Tuobodom in Brong Ahafo. In the Upper East region, however, tomato varieties Shasta, Heinz, OP-149, OP-155, and a local check were used at Vea, Tono, and Pwalugu. Seed beds were designated as IPM and farmer practice to monitor differences in crop performance in the different farming systems. The IPM (research) beds were heat sterilized before nursing of seeds but the farmer practice was not. A spacing of 60 x 50 cm and 100 x 30 cm was used in the IPM (research) and farmer practice, respectively. Tomato seedlings were planted in RCBD with five replications. Significant differences were observed among the varieties used in plant height, number of fruit per plant, fruit weight, number of plants infested with aphids, and number of dropped fruits across the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions. There were, however, no significant differences in fruit borers per plot or number of fruit dropped among the varieties in the Upper East region. Percentage decreases were recorded in the farmer practice in the varieties based on the number of plants infested with aphids, number of fruit borers per plot, number of damaged fruits with holes and number of dropped fruit per plot over farmers practice. There were however, percentage increases in the number of fruits per plant and plot over the research field.