Push-Pull: Diversity through Participatory Research
Push-Pull is an agroecological method that can significantly increase maize and sorghum yields without using pesticides or artificial fertilisers. Push-pull controls pests while improving the soil’s water retention and fertility. In addition, the push-pull method generates valuable feed for cattle. Biovision together with the insect research institute icipe promote the push-pull method. The method’s influence on vegetable fields and its effects on farming families’ nutritional diversity will be researched in this project phase.
Stories from the project
Push-Pull: A fatal attraction for pests and parasites
Plants and insects communicate extensively with each other. For example, they send out mating calls and false promises, and this is the characteristic used by Push-Pull (with info graphic). Read more.
“These days, we’ve got enough to eat”
Janet Dzimiri, a smallholder from Zimbabwe, was unable to feed her family after the death of her husband. The turning point came when, Jona Mutasa, also smallholder in Simbabwe, told her about a new method of maize cultivation. Read more.
Small-scale farmers' hero
Jona and his wife Roswiter are celebrated as heroes. Why? They have adopted the extremely successful push-pull method from Kenya, which is supported by Biovision, and spread it in Zimbabwe. Read more.
Biovision approach: holistic and effective
Gaining control over complex problems requires consideration of the different steps towards an adapted solution in their entirety. This is the Biovision approach. Read more.