Farmers‘ Pest Management Practices of Stored Faba Bean and their Implication to Food Security in Farta District, North West Ethiopia

Faba bean is the most important legume grown in Ethiopia. But, insect pests have been causing its substantial loss under farmers‘ storages. A survey to assess the farmers‘ pest protection practices of stored faba bean was conducted in its selected major growing peasant associations of the Farta District from 4 January 2019 – 15 May 2020. Semi-structured questionnaires and farmers‘ participatory discussion were used to conduct the study. Accordingly, the majority of farmers (66.7%) harvested their grain in usual time (in December) fearing insect pests infestation. A substantial proportion of the farmers (25%) used a combination of cultural and botanical methods, followed by botanicals (20.83%) for grains protection. Eucalyptus globlus, Croton macrostachyus and Otostegia tomentosa were the three most commonly used botanicals and suggested to be potent. Threshing was done most commonly by livestock (66.7%), followed by beating with sticks (25%) both of which are not recommended as they might lead to grain losses. The insect infestation level was high in threshed and un-threshed forms of faba beans after 3 and 7 months storage periods, respectively. Consequently, the farmers‘ traditional practices were ineffectual for storing beans for longer periods. Therefore, planning pest management strategies of stored beans are desirable.