Page 15 - Vol.39-No.5

CROP PROTECTION

Keeping a few animals whether free full fruits of your labours is sometimes nigh
range chickens and ducks, rabbits, goats on impossible.
or swine can be start of much bigger things Some crops like banana, cassava, mango
to come, graduating to more and more and citrus will generally withstand most
intensively reared chickens and ducks pests and disease problems while vege-
giving enough meat and eggs for home table crops such as tomato, cucumber and
consumption and sale at the local market. sweet pepper succumb to a wide range
Ducks do not have to be provided with a of insect pests and fungal diseases that
pond but best results will be obtained if lurk in the tropics. But householders can
there is sufficient water for ducks to ‘duck’ meet the problem half way using natural
their heads under water thus keeping eyes insecticides like neem and natural pyrethrin
free from infection. (both derived from African plants) and rel-
Lessons from the backyard atively safe inorganic copper compounds
like cuprous oxide, cupric hydroxide, copper
There are many lessons to be learned oxychloride and Bordeaux Mixture (cop-
from the backyard. Trees provide a good per sulphate) that control most fungal and
lesson to life. Trees that do not bear fruit bacterial pathogens when used as sprays.
are generally left alone while those which
bear heavy crops of fruit every year are
ones to be bashed, thrashed, beaten and
Yam is the ideal root crop for the small climbed not only by the owner but by un-
garden. The plant will vine up almost any scrupulous neighbours and passers-by in
support provided, while the root tubers order to pick the fruit. In the same way
are underground the most successful people are often the
(Picture Dr Terry Mabbett) most vulnerable to molestation.

stomach. Aloe-vera in particular is widely These thoughts raise and beg the ques-
grown for its medicinal and skin healing and tion of boundaries which are not consid-
cleansing properties. When skinned and ered right and proper in some cultures and
applied to the skin slime from the aloe-vera communities. But definitive and secure
leaf soothes burns and sun burn and when boundaries, barricades, walls and fences Goats are a good bet for milk and meat
blended with honey and grapefruit juice is generally make for good neighbours and but must be tied as they will consume
an excellent skin cleanser. neighbourly relations. almost any plants in the garden
Plants do not recognize boundaries. The
Animals in the backyard bitter gourd may climb across the fence and (Picture Dr Terry Mabbett)
Householders are not obliged to mind sour relations with neighbours, orange and Last but not least African backyard gar-
animals in the backyard but keeping live- mango trees dangle ripe fruit tantalizingly den could prove to be a bulwark against
stock whether poultry, goats, hogs or the across your wall and over your neighbour’s genetically modified (GM) crops which
occasional cow adds an extra tier and di- yard while his coconuts may fall and roll threaten traditional African farming meth-
mension to production and boosts re-cy- down the hill into .your garden. ods including ‘saving your own seed’, and
cling. Livestock provide food in milk, meat Heavy browsing animals like goats can thereby raise the prospect of agrarian colo-
and eggs, feathers and fur and the odd cause big problems between neighbours nialism on a massive and suffocating scale.
leather skin for making shoes. if they stray from home. Current problems Will tomatoes genetically modified to be
Livestock are the great engines of re- with potentially pandemic poultry diseas- large round and red for European markets
cycling consuming grass, trimmings from es like avian influenza and Newcastle dis- be resistant to the soil-borne pathogens
trees and kitchen waste that is otherwise ease means you do not want your poultry causing bacterial wilt and fusarium (fungal)
discarded. Goats in particular will consume (chickens, ducks, turkeys or Guinea fowl) wilt right across Africa? I doubt it very
even the coarsest grass and weeds but mixing with others. This is mainly for their much, but local African varieties are. The
they should be tethered because they will health but in the case of avian influenza fruit may be small, oval and often lacking
happily consume just about all your garden (bird flu) your own health as well. in colour, but at least the plants mature to
crops, ornamentals and flowers as well. In the end good relations comes down bear fruit and the gardener can save seed
Animals return nutrients to the soil in urine to ‘give and take’ all round for as the old for his or her following crop.
and manure thus completing the cycle garden saying goes ‘ you cannot plant bitter
cassava and expect to reap sweet potato.
The African backyard could be a bul-
wark against technologies forced on African
communities when they do not want them
and do not really need them. Pesticides
are case in point. Smallholders and house-
holders all over the world are turning away
from blanket use of pesticides. Whether
you live in London or Lusaka it is not a good
idea to splash potentially harmful chemical
pesticides in your own backyard. But Afri-
can smallholders like others in the hot wet Ducks do not have to be provided with
tropics are in a difficult position. Anyone water to swim in. However, ducks should
Chickens and rabbits are good choices who has ‘kept garden’ in the tropics knows be furnished with enough water so that
for the backyard, and these small from bitter experience that to remain ab- they can duck their heads under water,
livestock are apparently compatible solutely pesticide free and still harvest the like the Indian runner duck shown here
(Picture Dr Terry Mabbett) (Picture Dr Terry Mabbett)
Circle 15 on enquiry card Vol. 39 No. 5 13