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1.6 Crop Protection
Agriculture · Grade 10 · 14 lessons in the design
What this covers
- The meaning and importance of crop protection
- Identification of weeds in a crop field
- Classification of weeds by morphology and life cycle
- Economic importance of weeds to a farming household
- Methods of weed control: physical, cultural, biological, chemical, legislative and integrated
- Insect pests of maize, tomato and kale
- Diseases of maize, tomato and kale
- Cultural, biological and chemical control of pests and diseases
- Safety in the use of pesticides
- Integrated pest management
What you will be able to do
- identify weeds in a crop field
- classify weeds based on morphology and life cycle
- describe methods of weed control
- carry out weed control using appropriate methods
- identify common insect pests and diseases of maize, tomato and kale
- apply cultural, biological and chemical methods of crop protection safely
- practise integrated pest management on a selected crop
- appreciate the economic importance of crop protection in a farming household
Key questions
“How do weeds affect crop production?”
“Why is weed control done in crop production?”
“How can pests and diseases of crops be managed without harming people, livestock and the environment?”
Lessons
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Meaning and importance of crop protection
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizWhat crop protection is, the three main threats to maize, tomato and kale, and why a Kenyan household cannot skip the work.
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Identifying weeds in a crop field
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizWhat a weed is, how to recognise common Kenyan weeds of maize, tomato and kale, and how to start a simple herbarium on an excursion.
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Classifying weeds by morphology and life cycle
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizSort weeds as grasses, broadleaves or sedges, and as annuals or perennials, so the control method matches how the plant lives and spreads.
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Economic importance of weeds
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizHow weeds cost a Kenyan household yield, labour and livestock, and the few uses that still do not make a weed welcome in the crop row.
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Physical and mechanical weed control
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizHand pulling, hoeing, slashing and related physical methods, carried out early on a Kenyan maize row or school vegetable bed.
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Cultural and legislative weed control
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizFarming practices that stop weeds winning, and rules (certified seed, quarantine) that stop noxious weeds travelling between farms.
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Chemical and biological weed control
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizHow herbicides and living agents suppress weeds, why they are last tools on a school food bed, and how they join physical and cultural methods.
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Insect pests of maize, tomato and kale
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizHow to recognise fall armyworm, stalk borer, Tuta, whitefly, diamondback moth and related pests by the damage they leave on Kenyan crops.
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Diseases of maize, tomato and kale
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizFungal, bacterial and viral diseases of the three working crops, how they differ from insect damage, and why bacterial wilt has no cheap spray cure.
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Cultural and physical pest and disease control
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizRotation, clean seed, hygiene, staking, hand-picking, traps and rogueing as the first line against insects and pathogens on Kenyan plots.
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Biological control of crop pests
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizPredators, parasitoids and microbial products that suppress pests on Kenyan maize, tomato and kale, and why blanket sprays kill those unpaid helpers.
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Chemical control and pesticide safety
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizWhen a labelled pesticide is justified, how to read the PCPB label, PPE, mixing, PHI, storage and empty containers so people and water stay safe.
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Integrated pest management
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizIPM as prevent, scout, decide, act (cultural then biological then chemical last) and review, so pests are managed with least harm to people and the environment.
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Protecting maize, tomato and kale
40 min · 1 practice tasks · quizApply IPM side by side on three Kenyan crops: key threats, first actions, when chemicals enter, and a protection diary that respects the PHI.