IPM Project Presents at Gates Foundation

The LIL Associate Award was invited by Gates Foundation Program Officer Dr. Jeffrey Ehlers to give a Learning Lunch presentation at the Foundation's Headquarters in Seattle.

Link to the full presentation on Cowpea IPM.

The LIL Associate Award funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Precision Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for Smallholder Cowpea Farmers in West Africa, was invited by Gates Foundation Program Officer Dr. Jeffrey Ehlers to give a Learning Lunch presentation at the Foundation's Headquarters in Seattle. The presentation focused on project progress and the future direction of the IPM program.

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A cowpea flower damaged by a Maruca vitrata larva.                                                          

This IPM project is developing innovative biological pest management strategies primarily based on action of natural enemies supplemented with locally produced botanical/pathogenic biopesticides.  In addition, the project is developing a farmer-friendly cellphone App that will assist smallholder farmers in their pest management decisions; with the App, farmers report pest problems and receive timely recommendations.

At the Learning Lunch presentation, project researchers helped explain the need for more sustainable pest management alternatives to the current use of synthetic pesticides across West Africa.

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