Burkina Faso like many Sahelian countries is experiencing the worst drought and famine in a decade. To top it off, destructive pests on the country’s important food crops leave Burkinabe households vulnerable to food insecurity. Pests (fruit flies, ratracocus invadens, spodoptera frugiperda, hellicoverpa armigera, and tuta absoluta) nibble on the quality and quantity of vegetables, fruits, and food crops.

Most smallholder farmers often lack access to effective pest and disease control tools, forcing them to rely on synthetic insecticides which when frequently used, can be harmful to the environment, human beings, and animal health.

Scientist from the Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research of Burkina Faso (INERA), funded by USAID under the Current and Emerging Threats to Crops Innovation Lab, collaborated with the Association of Mango Producers of Burkina Faso (UNPM) and the Ministry of Agriculture in Burkina Faso, to evaluate the effectiveness of biological control agents.

Researcher Dianda Oumarou of INERA and the team found out that entomopathogenic fungus is effective to control major crop pests. These microbial agents kill the target pest by producing spores. When the spores are exposed to the host, the fungi multiply, invade the insect tissue, and emerge from the dead insect.

“We have sampled different species of fungi that target pests attacking tomato, onion, mango, papaya, maize, and sorghum,” Dr. Dianda said. “Using these pathogens to attack pests will ensure the health of vegetables, fruits, and food crops and overall food security. Because they do not produce toxic residues, entomopathogenic fungi are safe for human beings, animals, and the environment.”

Sawadogo David Abdou, a mango farmer from Koloko Village in Kénedougou province in Burkina Faso, shared his excitement after learning about the project.

“This project is beneficial because it allows us to limit the use of synthetic insecticides, which are increasingly expensive, often unavailable, and cause intoxications linked to the bad use.”

The utilization of entomopathogenic fungus is affordable to farmers. Unlike synthetic insecticides, the pest does not develop resistance to them. Synthetic pesticides also eliminate natural enemies that could biologically control a percentage of the pests.

“In the next phase of the project, the biocontrol agents will be tested in the field. We will then make biopesticides from an entomopathogenic fungus which will be accessible to farmers.” Concludes Dr. Dianda.