Field Guide of Discovery-based Exercises for - Aseanipm ...

Section 4 • Integrated Insect and Rodent Pests Management
materials
• Office supplies (e.g., Manila papers, hand lenses, notebooks, ball pens, marking pens, crayons);
• Organically-grown vegetable crops in learning and adjoining fields showing early infestation
of soil-inhabiting pests; and
• Different trap materials (e.g., large senescing cabbage leaves, light slabs of wood, plywood
boards, etc.).
methodology
• Field walks, hands-on, and brainstorming
steps
1. Divide participants in small groups and ask them to conduct field walks and observe as many organic
vegetable crops with early infestation of cutworms, slugs, and snails in farmers’ fields. Take note of
feeding characteristics of pests. Interview other farmers, if necessary. List down all observations
related to pest occurrence, crops or weeds infested, degree and characteristic of damage, etc.
2. Go back to processing area, brainstorm in small groups, and present output to the big group.
Conduct participatory discussion to allow sharing of experiences among participants and
facilitators. Motivate farmers to share their best experiences in controlling soil-inhabiting pests
using different trap materials.
3. Synthesize and summarize output of small groups into one big group output. Draw up
conclusions and recommendations from this exercise.
4. Facilitate farmers to do hands-on to compare effectiveness of trap materials as early as first
infestation of soil-inhabiting pests is observed, as follows:
5 Install suitable trap materials (e.g., large senescing cabbage leaves, light slabs of wood,
plywood boards, etc.) at a distance of one meter in rows within plots in the afternoon;
5 Gather installed trap materials and collect trapped pests (may be reared also for insect zoo)
in succeeding morning;
5 Record pest numbers and species collected in each trap material and feed collected pests
to chickens; and
5 Repeat process daily until necessary; determine best trap materials and common pests
usually trapped.
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