Pests and diseases
Pests and diseases are a problem in the agricultural industry. Farmers have to constantly work on their farms to prevent pests and diseases from destroying crops and livestock. They not only cause damage to crops and animals, but also affect the profitability of farms by lowering yield and quality. But what if there was an easier way? What if you could avoid these problems by simply planting certain plants and rearing certain animals?
In this blog, we cover 4 of the most pest and disease-prone farms. While these farms are profitable, they face a higher risk of pests, parasites, and diseases than other types of farming niches. As such, farmers have to put in place solid pest and disease control measures to succeed.
How we determine the most pest and disease-prone farms
We determine the most pest and disease-prone farms on the basis of the following factors;
Reported pest and disease incidents
Mortality rates
4 Most pest and disease-prone farms
With an ever-growing demand for chicken, the industry has evolved to become more efficient and productive than ever before. One of the biggest challenges that chicken farmers face is diseases. There are a lot of diseases that affect the chicken farming industry, and it is important for farmers to be aware of them. These diseases have very high mortality rates, causing huge losses to farmers.
Common chicken diseases include Newcastle disease, infectious bronchitis, fowl pox, gumboro disease, fowl typhoid, and Marek’s disease. They can be controlled through an effective vaccination program. Other measures like good hygiene, good housing, proper diet, and nutrition can also help to keep these diseases at bay.
Learn more about chicken farming in Africa.
Tomatoes are a popular crop for many farms. One of the most important aspects of farming tomatoes is to prevent pests and diseases. Farmers need to be aware of what can happen if they don't take precautions against these diseases. A significant budget goes into purchasing inputs for controlling these pests and diseases. Despite these control measures, farmers have still reported losses caused by either pests or diseases.
Common pests that attack tomatoes are aphids, cutworms, red spider mites, leafminers, and whiteflies. Tomato diseases include blossom end rot, powdery mildew, bacterial wilt, fusarium wilt, and, early and late blight. These pests and diseases can be controlled through use of prescribed pesticides. Apart from that, farmers should plant quality seeds that are resistant to some of the listed pests and diseases. On top of that, farmers should ensure field hygiene through weeding and also carry out crop rotation with crops of a different family. This breaks the cycle of pests and diseases.
Learn more about tomato farming in Africa.
In order to grow kale, farmers need to be aware of the diseases that can affect their crops. Kale is a crop that needs a lot of care and attention in order to thrive. There are many different types of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that can affect kale plants while they are growing or when harvested.
These are responsible for diseases such as black rot, downy mildew, damping-off, bacterial soft rot, anthracnose, and alternaria leaf spot. Common pests that attack kales include aphids, cutworms, grasshoppers, thrips, sawflies, and whiteflies. If not controlled, these pests and diseases can cause losses on the farm. While these pests and diseases can be controlled through use of pesticides, other measures should be included. These include maintaining field hygiene, planting resistant kale varieties, and crop rotation.
Learn more about kales farming in Africa.
Cattle farming is a lucrative field that is unfortunately plagued by diseases that affect the production and performance of herds. Internal and external parasites also affect the productivity of cattle. These parasites include ticks, flies, tsetse flies, horn flies, lice, and grubs. Internal parasites include hairworms, liver flukes, coccidia, and roundworms.
Common cattle diseases in Africa are foot and mouth disease, brucellosis, East Coast fever, lumpy skin disease, and Rift Valley Fever. Some of these diseases either have high mortality rates or significantly lower the performance of cattle. Cattle diseases can be prevented through measures such as vaccinations, proper housing, maintaining hygiene, and ensuring proper health management activities.
Learn more about cattle farming in Africa.
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