Beneficial insects and behavioral games could boost rice production and improve farmer health in Cambodia, according to a recent post Promoting healthy insect ecosystems in Cambodia to ensure agricultural sustainability by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
“All of the pesticides Cambodian farmers [use] come from Thailand or Vietnam, and there’s no local translation into Khmer script of [the instructions],” said Andrew Bell, research fellow at IFPRI, in a new video, “Of Beneficial Insects and Behavioral Games.” “Very typically you see application of these cocktails of five or six different things throughout the season which aren’t necessarily the best thing for the crops or the farmers.”
Lost in translation, these pesticides are often overused or used inappropriately, killing beneficial insects, damaging crops and harming ecosystem health. Improper handling has also resulted in frequent pesticide poisonings of farmers.
A new project, led by IFPRI and the Society for Community Development in Cambodia (SOFDEC), aims to identify the greatest potential for adopting natural pest control by farmers. To do this, researchers are measuring how natural pest control with beneficial insects could support crop productivity and cost savings from pesticide purchases. They are also conducting experimental field games to understand how farmers respond to changes and incentives.
Related links:
Learn more about the NonCropShare Coodination Game.
Learn more about the visit to promote insect-based ecosystem services to smallholders.
Other Partners
This work is funded by WLE and the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets.
The original post, “Promoting Healthy Insect Ecosystems in Cambodia to Ensure Agricultural Sustainability”, first appeared on the IFPRI Blog on January 22, 2015.
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