The potential of field margin pesticidal plants on bean production and ecosystem services in Arusha, Tanzania

Abstract

An experiment was undertaken in NM-AIST farms in Arusha Tanzania from January to July 2017 to assess the potential of pesticidal plants on supporting the beneficial insects, controlling pests’ and influencing bean growth and yield. Six treatments were evaluated. This included: bean plots imposed close to the following field margin pesticidal plants: 1) Tephrosia vogelii, 2) Lantana camara, 3) Tithonia diversifolia and 4) Lantana trifolia 5) positive control treatments sprayed with synthetic pesticide, Lambda-Cyhalothrin, and 6) negative control, in which nothing was added. Pan traps were used to assess the abundance of both beneficial and pest insects. Growth and yield parameters were measured. The results showed a significant (P ≤ 0.05) effect of pesticidal plants on pest control and attraction of beneficial insects. The effect on growth parameters showed a numerical difference but statistically, it was not significant. The grain yield increased with increased distance of bean row from pesticidal plants. The yield from bean rows at the distance of 50 cm from pesticidal plants were relatively less compared with the grain yields from bean rows planted at 100 cm and 150 cm respectively. Hence, proper management of pesticidal plants in bean field has a great potential of increasing crop yield with the possibly minimum inputs, thus calling for further research on possible plants that can provide significant impacts in crop production systems.