AIAEE Proceedings of the 23 rd Annual Meeting Polson, Montana Farmers’ Perceptions and Adoption of a ‘Push-Pull’ Technology for Control of Cereal Stemborers and Striga Weed in Western Kenya J. W. Wanyama Kenya Agricultural Research Institute P.O. BOX 450-30200, Kitale, Kenya Fax: 254- 054-30378, e-mail: jmasindektl@yahoo.com Z. R. Khan, D. M. Amudavi International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Mbita, Kenya E. M. Njuguna International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Mbita, Kenya Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Katumani, Kenya C. A. O. Midega International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Mbita, Kenya J. A. Pickett Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK Abstract Stemborers and striga weed are major constraints to production of cereals in sub-Saharan Africa. In mitigation of yield losses caused, farmers apply various strategies and methods, but efficient control remains largely elusive. ICIPE and partners have developed a novel integrated management system called ‘push-pull’ technology (PPT). The technology involves intercropping maize with a forage legume, silverleaf desmodium and planting Napier grass around the intercrop as a trap crop. The desmodium produces volatile chemicals, which repel the stemborer moths from the maize (push) while those released by Napier grass pull or attract the moths (pull). This ensures most of the stemborers land on the Napier grass leaving the target crop protected. Additionally, chemicals produced from desmodium roots suppress and eliminate Striga. We evaluated farmers’ perceptions of PPT attributes and whether this had any influence on its adoption in 15 districts in Kenya. We interviewed a random sample of 843 farmers with 438 having adopted and 405 not yet adopted but attending field days demonstrating results of PPT. The farmers’ perceptions nuanced that both pests were serious constraints to their cereal production efforts and that PPT controls them leading to an increase in grain yields and that this significantly influenced technology adoption. These findings suggest that PPT could be a practically desirable option for livelihood diversification by smallholder farmers who largely depend on land as their main resource base. Effective dissemination pathways that provide farmers with appropriate information for evaluating potential benefits and tradeoffs of such management-intensive technologies are therefore required. Keywords: Perceptions, stemborer, striga weed, ‘push-pull’ technology (PPT), adoption 358