HOW DOES THE PEST AFFECT THE GROWTH OF CROPS

 EFFECTS OF PESTS ON CROPS

1. Quality and quantity reduction.

Pest reduces the produces quality and quantity as they eat up the produces on the farm even at storage. They reduce the nutritional quality of the produce as they release their saliva on the produce. Example is grasshopper, Grasshoppers are plant-eaters, with a few species at times becoming serious pests of cereals, vegetables and pasture, especially when they swarm in their millions as locusts and destroy crops over wide areas.

2. Disease vectors.

Most insect pests are disease carriers. Example is Leafhoppers (family Cicadellidae) transmit over 80 known types of plant disease, including ones caused by viruses, mycoplasma-like organisms (MLOs), and spiroplasmas. Examples include aster yellows, beet curly top, blueberry stunt, dwarf disease of rice, phony peach, and Pierce’s disease of grapes.

3. Reduce rate of photosynthesis.

Larvae of insect pest eat up the leaves and stem of plants thereby reducing the plant rate of photosynthesis. The plant growth and yield is reduced. Example is the Army worm that feed of maize, barley and other cereal crop.

4. Pest reduces farmer’s income.

Infested crops and other plants eaten by pest usually have low market value which reduces the farmers’ income. The beans beetle bore in the beans seeds and reduce their quality which make their market value to reduce in the market.

5. High cost of production.

The cost of controlling and preventing pest infestation increases the farmers cost of production.