• Obtain a waiver to use new products
• Focus on organic pesticides
• Do not forget the inputs
L’appearance of a new jassid species has negatively impacted productivity for the 2022-2023 cotton campaign. For the SG of the Ministry of Commerce, Jean Pierre Guinko, “more than 130 hectares of fields were affected and around 130,000 tonnes of seed cotton were lost”. This resulted in a loss of more than 65 billion FCFA, according to him.
The images of cotton fields affected by parasites are still in the memories of farmers, in particular, those of the rural Commune of Ouélini, in Léraba, Cascades region. Cotton flowers, instead of being in full bloom or producing bolls with green leaves, end up with reddish spots. By feeding through bites at the level of the leaf veins, the jassids cause yellowing of the edges of the leaf blade which subsequently extends to the entire leaf blade while the edges turn red. The leaf finally dries up.
Even if the phenomenon is not new, its appearance during the 2022-2023 campaign was very early. Moreover, it is not specific to cotton plants. Jassids also affect other productions linked to market gardening: eggplant, okra, etc. Hence the urgency to act. For the 2023-2024 campaign in preparation, the government wants to anticipate. Thus, since the Council of Ministers of January 18, the ministerial departments concerned by the problem of the Jassids will initiate urgent consultations in order to obtain a derogation for the use of the products identified to fight once morest the Jassids during the next campaign. 2023-2024. This action was recorded on February 8th. The Council of Ministers adopted the decree declaring the new species of jassids “Amrasca biguttula” as an “agricultural scourge” and authorizing the import and use of unapproved pesticides to fight once morest this pest. The adoption of this decree allows the import and use of non-registered pesticides to effectively combat these high infestations of jassids
Why this exemption measure?
The countries of the Union are governed by Regulation No. 04/2009/CM/UEMOA relating to the harmonization of the rules governing the registration, marketing and control of pesticides within the UEMOA. Texts that Burkina Faso has ratified. For the introduction of new pesticides on the national territory, it is necessary either to ask for a derogation, or to withdraw from these texts. The government decided for the first option, requesting the introduction of new pesticides to control the jassids. According to specialists in the matter, in the first place, the measure aims to find a solution to the use of chemical pesticides on certain market garden products and on beans. And secondly, to meet the need to make available products from agro-ecology that promote bio-pesticides and reject chemical pesticides.
These products have been identified. These are organic products, but also chemical pesticides, although less toxic. There are 3 main products which are: GRACIA 10 EC, JACOBIA and Flonicamide 050 WG.
If the question of pesticides has been taken care of in high places, there remains the question of inputs. For Marc Gansonré, Secretary General of the Confédération paysanne du Faso (CPF) and member of the ALT, “the hardest thing would be to stay the course, because if we want quality products, we need quality inputs”.
It should be noted that the 2022-2023 cotton campaign was marked by an exceptional surge in fertilizer prices on the markets. To remedy this situation, the cotton sector benefited from a subsidy on the prices of inputs (fertilizers and insecticides) amounting to 76.8 billion FCFA, including 72.8 billion FCFA in subsidies granted by the Burkinabè State.
ESS/MS
framed
Declining production
A Nationally, conventional seed cotton production for the 2022-2023 campaign would reach 482,585 tons, a decrease of 7% compared to the previous campaign. The areas sown are 617,607 hectares, an increase of 4%. Average yields are down 10% and stand at 781 kilograms per hectare.o
