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P. Parvatha Reddy
Agro-ecological
Approaches to
Pest Management
for Sustainable
Agriculture
Agro-ecological Approaches to Pest
Management for Sustainable Agriculture
P. Parvatha Reddy
Agro-ecological
Approaches to Pest
Management for
Sustainable Agriculture
P. Parvatha Reddy
Former Director, Indian Institute
of Horticultural Research
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
This book was advertised with a copyright holder in the name of the authors in error, whereas
the publisher holds the copyright.
Even though the intensive crop production practices adopted in achieving green
revolution (using heavy doses of fertilizers, indiscriminate use of pesticides and
herbicides) led to enormous gains in food production and improved world food
security, it had negative impacts on production, ecosystems, and the larger environ-
ment (causing environmental damage, pollution, reliance on fossil fuels), putting
future productivity at risk. The food production in the developing world must be
doubled, in order to feed the world’s growing population that is expected to reach
9 billion by 2050. Since there is no scope to increase the land available for cultiva-
tion, the increase in production should come from sustainable intensification of
agriculture – getting more crops out of the same amount of farmland with less envi-
ronmental impact. In order to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(which last until 2030) set forth by the UN (to end hunger, achieve food security and
improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture), the increased food pro-
duction should be achieved through environment-friendly and economically sus-
tainable manner.
More than 30% of crops worldwide are blemished, damaged, or destroyed by
agricultural pests – insects, mites, weeds, nematodes, and disease pathogens (fungi,
bacteria, viruses). The crop losses due to pests viewed in terms of food security
would represent the equivalent of food required to feed over one billion people. For
over last five decades, chemical control has been the prevailing pest control strategy,
resulting in safety problems and ecological disruptions. Hence, there are renewed
appeals for economically acceptable, effective, and eco-friendly alternative pest
management strategies, which reduce pest damage while avoiding the cost and neg-
ative externalities associated with inorganic pesticides.
One of the emerging strategies in crop protection, “Agroecological Pest
Management”, is being recognized in the present-day context. The new paradigm
emphasizes on the incorporation of ecological principles into pest management
while ensuring high productivity and profitable harvests without causing harm to the
environment. The restructuring of the crop production system to incorporate preven-
tative ecological measures that keep organisms from reaching pest status is the long-
term pest management strategy. The use of biological processes has been given
emphasis to regulate pest populations (as an alternative to direct control via synthetic
pesticides) through the redesign of cropping systems via plant species’ spatial and
v
vi Foreword
temporal diversification, while also preserving and improving the soil health (fertil-
ity, biological activity, structure, etc.) in agroecological pest management.
The information on agroecological pest management is very much scattered, and
there is no book at present which comprehensively and exclusively deals with the
above aspects in agriculture emphasizing on food security. This book, Agro-
ecological Approaches to Pest Management for Sustainable Agriculture, outlines a
new paradigm which aims to increase productivity through increasing efficiency
and reducing waste, while conserving resources, reducing negative impacts on the
environment, and enhancing the provision of ecosystem services. The use of eco-
logically based pest management strategies can increase the sustainability of agri-
cultural production while reducing off-site consequences. The preventive strategies
rather than reactive strategies form the basis of agroecological pest management. In
order to build a farm’s natural defenses, the preventive practices based on above-
and below-ground habitat management (crop/soil management) should be given
primary focus in cropping program, followed by planned (problems not solved by
preventive practices – planned supplemental pest/soil management practices) and
reactive (problems not solved by planned practices – reactive inputs for pest
management/reduce plant stress) strategies. The book also highlights the underlying
principles and outlines some of the key management practices and technologies
required to implement agroecological pest management.
I compliment Dr. P. Parvatha Reddy for his meticulous contribution on a very
potential topic of agroecological pest management. This book will be of immense
value to the scientific community in agriculture as a whole and to those who are
involved in crop protection in particular. The material can also be used for teaching
postgraduate courses. It can also serve as a very useful reference to policymakers
and practicing farmers.
The green revolution (using heavy fertilization and indiscriminate use of pesticides)
during 1960s has led to enormous gains in food production and improved world
food security. However, intensive crop production has had negative impacts on pro-
duction, ecosystems, and the larger environment, putting future productivity at risk.
The world’s population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050; therefore, there will
be a need to raise food production by almost 100% in developing countries. An
estimated 80% of the required food production increases will thus need to come
from land that is already under cultivation, through higher productivity. Hence, new
and more environmentally sustainable and economic approaches are demanded and
sought to meet future societal needs.
Pests (insect and mite pests, disease pathogens, nematodes, and weeds) are the
important limiting factors in crop production and productivity. They are responsible
for significant crop losses to the extent of 26–40% of the attainable yield every year
in major food and cash crops. The present modern agricultural systems are reliant
on agrochemical inputs for pest management. Overreliance on pesticides disrupts
parasitoid and predator populations, causes outbreaks of secondary pests, exposes
farmers to serious health risks, has negative consequences for the environment,
causes development of pesticide resistance, leaves pesticide residues in food prod-
ucts, decreases effectiveness of many pesticides, adds to increased costs, and pol-
lutes the air, soil, and water. Hence, there is an immediate need for alternative pest
management strategies to overcome the above limitations, and to provide sustain-
able and eco-friendly production systems. The use of ecologically based pest man-
agement strategies can increase the sustainability of agricultural production while
reducing off-site consequences. Agroecologically based pest management makes
full use of natural and cultural practices and methods, including host resistance and
biological control. In order to stabilize the population of pest species throughout the
food web, the new designs should concentrate on managing the farm environment
through ecosystem enhancements (i.e., landscape ecology), crop attributes, or other
means.
This book, Agro-ecological Approaches to Pest Management for Sustainable
Agriculture deals with optimal resource use for pest management with high produc-
tivity and enhanced ecosystem services. This alternative paradigm has been shown
to work in many parts of the world, and is biologically and ecologically as well as
economically more efficient in producing the required outputs of goods such as
vii
viii Preface
edible and nonedible biological products and of water while at the same time taking
care of other essential ecosystem services that regulate soil, crop, and ecosystem
health, protect habitats and biodiversity, drive carbon, nutrient, and hydrological
cycles as well as conserve stocks of carbon, nutrients, and water, and protect soils
and landscapes from erosion and other forms of degradation. The important aspects
of agroecological pest management such as conservation tillage, crop residue man-
agement, addition of organic amendments, nutrient management, crop diversity,
crop rotations, cover crops, plant breeding, agroforestry, biofumigation, habitat
management, cultural approaches, push-pull strategy, cultivar mixtures, and preci-
sion agriculture are dealt in a very comprehensive manner in this book.
The book will be of immense value to scientific community involved in teaching,
research, and extension activities related to crop protection. The material can be
used for teaching postgraduate courses. It can also serve as a very useful reference
to policymakers and practicing farmers. Suggestions to improve the contents of the
book are most welcome (e-mail: reddy_parvatha@yahoo.com). The publisher,
Springer India (Pvt.) Ltd., New Delhi, India, deserves commendation for their pro-
fessional contribution.
ix
x Contents
5.3.4 Iron.................................................................................... 70
5.3.5 Chlorine............................................................................. 71
5.3.6 Silicon............................................................................... 71
5.4 Conclusions..................................................................................... 71
References.................................................................................................. 72
6 Agro-Forestry........................................................................................... 77
6.1 Introduction..................................................................................... 77
6.2 Effect on Pests and Natural Enemies............................................... 78
6.2.1 Insect Pests and Diseases.................................................. 80
6.2.2 Nematodes......................................................................... 84
6.2.3 Weeds................................................................................ 85
6.2.4 Natural Enemies................................................................ 85
6.3 Conclusions..................................................................................... 86
References.................................................................................................. 86
7 Cover/Green Manure Cropping............................................................. 91
7.1 Introduction..................................................................................... 91
7.2 Disease Management....................................................................... 92
7.3 Insect Pest Management.................................................................. 93
7.3.1 Pollen and Nectar Source for Predators............................ 94
7.3.2 Overwintering Habitats for Generalist Predators.............. 94
7.3.3 Understory Cover Crops in Orchards................................ 95
7.4 Nematode Management................................................................... 96
7.5 Weed Management.......................................................................... 98
7.6 Mechanism of Pest Suppression...................................................... 102
7.6.1 Disease and Nematode Management................................ 102
7.6.2 Weed Management............................................................ 103
7.7 Conclusions..................................................................................... 103
References.................................................................................................. 103
8 Intercropping............................................................................................ 109
8.1 Introduction..................................................................................... 109
8.2 Insect Pest Management.................................................................. 111
8.2.1 Floral and Nectar Resources from Intercrops................... 112
8.2.2 Shelter and Overwintering Sites....................................... 113
8.3 Disease Management....................................................................... 113
8.4 Nematode Management................................................................... 116
8.5 Weed Management.......................................................................... 118
8.5.1 Intercrop Yield and Weed Suppression............................. 120
8.5.2 Allelopathy........................................................................ 121
8.6 Mechanism of Action...................................................................... 121
8.6.1 Insect Pests........................................................................ 121
8.6.2 Diseases............................................................................. 123
8.6.3 Weeds................................................................................ 123
8.7 Conclusions..................................................................................... 127
References.................................................................................................. 127
xii Contents
Annexures......................................................................................................... 321
Annexure I: Glossary................................................................................. 321
Annexure II: Acronyms.............................................................................. 331
Index.................................................................................................................. 335
About the Author
Dr. P. Parvatha Reddy obtained his PhD degree jointly from the University of
Florida, USA, and the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.
Dr. Reddy served as the director of the prestigious Indian Institute of Horticultural
Research (IIHR) at Bangalore from 1999 to 2002, during which the institute was
honored with the “ICAR Best Institution Award.” He also served as the head of the
Division of Entomology and Nematology at IIHR and gave tremendous impetus and
direction to research, extension, and education in developing biointensive integrated
pest management strategies in horticultural crops. These technologies are being
practiced widely by the farmers across the country since they are effective, eco-
nomical, eco-friendly, and residue-free. Dr. Reddy has about 34 years of experience
working with horticultural crops and is involved in developing an F1 tomato hybrid
“Arka Varadan” resistant to root-knot nematodes.
Dr. Reddy has over 250 scientific publications to his credit, which also include
30 books. He has guided two PhD students at the University of Agricultural
Sciences, Bangalore.
Dr. Reddy is serving as chairman of the Research Advisory Committee (RAC),
Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, and as senior scientific advisor of the
Dr. Prem Nath Agricultural Science Foundation, Bangalore. He had also served as a
member of the RAC of National Centre for Integrated Pest Management, New Delhi;
the expert panel for monitoring the research program of National Initiative on Climate
Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) in the theme of horticulture including pest dynamics
and pollinators; the RAC of the National Research Centre for Citrus, Nagpur; and the
Project Directorate of Biological Control, Bangalore. He has also served as a member
of the Quinquennial Review Team (QRT) to review the progress of the Central Tuber
Crops Research Institute, Trivandrum; All-India Co-ordinated Research Project
(AICRP) on tuber crops and on nematodes; and All-India Network Research Project
(AINRP) on betel vine. He is the honorary fellow of the Society for Plant Protection
Sciences, New Delhi; fellow of the Indian Phytopathological Society, New Delhi; and
founder president of the Association for Advancement of Pest Management in
Horticultural Ecosystems (AAPMHE), Bangalore.
Dr. Reddy has been awarded with the prestigious “Association for Advancement
Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems Award,” “Dr. G.I. D’souza Memorial
Lecture Award,” “Prof. H.M. Shah Memorial Award,” and “Hexamar Agricultural
Research and Development Foundation Award” for his unstinted efforts in
xvii
xviii About the Author
Abstract
The emerging paradigm in crop protection—agroecological approaches to pest
management for sustainable agriculture—emphasizes on the incorporation of
ecological principles into pest management while ensuring high productivity and
profitable harvests without causing harm to the environment. The restructuring
of the crop production system to incorporate preventative ecological measures
that keep organisms from reaching pest status is the long-term pest management
strategy. The use of biological processes has been given emphasis for agroeco-
logical crop protection through biodiversity while also preserving as well as
improving soil health (fertility, biological activity, structure, etc.). The preventive
strategies [above- and below – ground habitat management (crop/soil manage-
ment)] rather than reactive strategies form the basis of agroecological pest
management.
Keywords
Agroecosystems • Biodiversification • Ecological principles • Crop protection
1.1 Introduction
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has predicted that food pro-
duction needs to increase by 70% globally in order to feed the population of over 9
billion by 2050. Since there is no scope to increase the land available for cultivation,
the increase in production should come from intensification of agriculture—getting
more crops out of the same amount of farmland. Earlier, the conventional agricul-
tural intensification (the so-called “Green Revolution”) relied on monoculture along
with heavy inputs such as pesticides, inorganic fertilizers, and fossil fuels to achieve
a decline in global hunger. Despite this production increase, nearly 800 million
people continue to suffer from hunger and malnutrition around the world. Ecological
Fig. 1.1 A diversified agroecosystem to achieve pest management for sustainable agriculture
(Altieri 1987)
1.2.1 Ecology
The interrelationship between biological processes due to organisms and their envi-
ronment is called ecology.
1.2.2 Agroecology
• Improving the efficiency of food production by “closing the nitrogen cycle” and
enhancing positive externalities to the environment
• Enhancing input-use efficiency
• Achieving improved social status of farmers
• Addressing climate-change resilience by appropriate selection of crops and
enhancing ecosystem function and resource efficiency
• Restoring soil health by adopting agroecological approaches
• Closing the gaps in yield and environmental sustainability
• Eliminating production constraints through farmer participation
• Improving soil nutrition to enhance crop yields
• Achieving energy and technological sovereignty
• Integrating trees in agriculture.
1.4 Goals
More than 30% of crops worldwide are blemished, damaged, or destroyed by herbi-
vores (insect and mite pests), fungal, bacterial, viral, and nematode diseases, and
weeds. They are responsible for significant crop losses to the extent of 26–40% in
important cash and food crops such as soybean, wheat, cotton, maize, rice, and
potato (Table 1.1) (Oerke 2006).
Over the last 50 years, the main strategy utilized for pest management was
through chemical methods, resulting in safety problems and ecological disruptions.
Hence, there is a need for economically acceptable, environmentally friendly alter-
native pest management strategies for future crop protection.
Monoculture of crops is the main cause for erosion of genetic biodiversity and is
responsible for the worsening of most pest problems (FAO 2001; Altieri and
Letourneau 1982). The monoculture of annual crops such as cotton, maize, rice,
soybeans, and wheat has occupied 91% of cropland. Crop monoculture is also the
main reason for enhanced susceptibility of crops to diseases and pests. Huge quanti-
ties of pesticides are being used every year to manage pests on these crops globally
(FAOStat 2014). Hence, agroecologically based pest management strategy is the
need of the hour.
Crop protection has been evolving since the 1970s based on the principles of
agroecological strategies for pest management (Bottrell 1980). This is one of the
emerging strategies in crop protection that is being recognized in the present-day
context (Gurr et al. 2004; Clements and Shrestha 2004; Nicholls and Altieri 2004).
The new paradigm emphasizes on the enhanced production utilizing the principles
of agroecological pest management without causing harm to the environment. The
restructuring of crop production is the long-term sustainable pest management
strategy.
Table 1.1 Current global losses (%) due to various categories of pests in major crops
Crop Animal pests Weeds Pathogens Viruses Total
Cotton 12.3 8.6 7.2 0.7 28.8
Maize 9.6 10.5 5.8 5.2 31.3
Potato 10.9 8.3 14.5 6.6 40.3
Rice 15.1 10.2 10.8 1.4 37.5
Soybean 8.8 7.5 8.9 1.2 26.4
Wheat 7.9 7.7 10.2 2.4 28.2
Average 10.8 8.8 10.0 2.5 32.1
Source: Oerke (2006)
6 1 Agro-Ecological Pest Management – An Overview
The use of biological processes has been given emphasis for alternative pest
management strategy through biodiversity, while also preserving and improving
soil health (fertility, biological activity, structure, etc.) in agroecological intensifica-
tion of crop protection (Ratnadass et al. 2012).
Agroecological intensification relies on developing methods to enhance the natu-
ral enemies of crop pests to increase crop yields substantially. Some scientists
believe that genetically modified crops fit into the gambit of agroecological intensi-
fication to fulfill the objective of food security (Birch et al. 2011).
Habitat management, which increases the population of pollinators and biologi-
cal control agents within agroecosystems, helps to manage crop pests (Fig. 1.2) and
thereby enhances crop production.
According to the vision of agroecological intensification, preventive tactics,
habitat manipulation, and biological control are the principal components for pest
management, while the reactive tactics based on chemical control should be given
less priority.
In order to implement an agroecologically based approach to crop protection,
cropping systems like intercropping, cover and green manure cropping, trap crop-
ping, companion planting, and crop rotation should be employed to keep pest popu-
lation below injury thresholds (Lewis et al. 1997). Use of crop cultivars resistant
or tolerant to pests, cultivar mixtures and multiline cultivars, biofumigation, alle-
lopathy, and precision agriculture also need to be promoted.
The successful agroecological pest management strategies include the following:
AGROECOSYSTEM HEALTH
SOIL HEALTH
BELOW GROUND ABOVE GROUND
CROP HEALTH
HABITAT MANAGEMENT, HABITAT MANAGEMENT,
BIOTA ACTIVATION AND PLANT DIVERSIFICATION
DIVERSIFICATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF
(SOIL ORGANIC MATTER, BENEFICIAL FAUNA
NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT)
AGROECOSYSTEM
DESIGN
NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
ADD ORGANIC MATTER
MAINTAIN SOIL COVER
REDUCE TILLAGE
PLANT BREEDING
CROP DIVERSITY
COVER CROPS
ROTATIONS
Preventive strategies rather than reactive strategies form the basis of agroecological
pest management. In order to build the natural defenses, the preventive practices
based on above- and below-ground habitat management (crop and soil manage-
ment) should be given primary focus in the cropping program. This should be fol-
lowed by planned strategies for supplemental pest and soil management to solve
those problems not solved by preventive practices as well as reactive strategies such
as inputs for pest management or reduce plant stress for problems not solved by
planned practices.
The pests should be stressed and/or natural enemies should be enhanced by using
habitat management employing the following cultural approaches:
8 1 Agro-Ecological Pest Management – An Overview
• Enhancing organic biomass through cover or green manure cropping that encour-
ages biological processes in the soil
• Promoting conservation tillage which improves the soil’s physical, chemical, and
biological properties
• Providing balanced crop nutrition
• Preventing soil acidity or salinity
• Encouraging soil antagonists for biological control of pests
1.7.1 Benefits
Saving on cost of inputs has been reported to increase production levels due to
the presence of specific biological control agents for a determined pest (Pesticide
Action Network North America 2009). For example, tapioca mealy bug was effec-
tively managed by introduction of the parasitic wasp Apoanygyrus (= Epidinocarsis)
lopezi in unsprayed fields (FAO 2016).
1.7.2 Limitations
• Biological control agents have not been identified for some very serious pests. In
such cases, the farmers resort to use of chemical pesticides.
• Agroecological intensification is knowledge intensive and requires thorough
understanding of the production system. Hence, it is not easy to implement.
• Biological control agents are slow to act, and may not be able to provide signifi-
cant pest control. It can be used as a component in integrated pest management.
• Since no single biological control agent is effective under diverse conditions,
there is a need for the use of two or more natural enemies.
1.8 Conclusions
References
Agriculture for Impact (2013) Sustainable intensification: a new paradigm for African agriculture.
A Montpellier Panel Report, London
Altieri MA (1987) Agroecology: the scientific basis of alternative agriculture. Westview Press,
Boulder
Altieri MA, Letourneau DK (1982) Vegetation management and biological control in agro-
ecosystems. Crop Prot 1:405–430
Altieri MA, Nicholls CI (2000) Applying agro-ecological concepts to development of ecologi-
cally based pest management systems. In: Proceedings of workshop on professional societies
and ecological based pest management systems. National Research Council, Washington, DC,
pp 14–19
Birch ANE, Begg GS, Squire GR (2011) How agro-ecological research helps to address food secu-
rity issues under new IPM and pesticide reduction policies for global crop production systems?
J Exp Biol 62:3251–3261
References 11
Take, for example, the land question. If there is one thing upon
which all the most experienced Nigerian administrators are agreed it
is the absolute essentiality, for the future of the people of the country,
that their use and enjoyment of the land should be secured, not only
against a certain type of European capitalist who covets this rich soil
for his own schemes, and, under the pretence of industrial
expansion, would cheerfully turn the native agriculturist, farmer, and
trader into a “labourer,” but against the class of native who, for his
own ends, for speculative purposes mainly, seeks to undermine
native law and to change the right of user upon which native land
tenure is based, into that of owner at the expense of the community
at large. More especially does this become a question of vital
importance to native communities where, as in Yorubaland, you have
a comparatively dense population which under the pax Britannica is
bound to increase at a very rapid rate, and thus requires every inch
of land for its own future uses. But as matters stand at present, we
cannot, in the Egba district, which, being nearer to Lagos, is more
accessible to certain undesirable influences, both European and
native, and to the infiltration of European laws and customs
regulating the tenure of land, take effective measures to counteract
these influences. We could, of course, if we chose, not in the Egba
district only, but throughout Yorubaland. But there has been a
lamentable reluctance both at home and in the Protectorate to
foresee and cope with a predicament which all realize, which some
from a natural bent of mind inclining them to favour the substitution
everywhere of direct for indirect rule, and others who are of the same
way of thinking but from motives of self-interest may secretly rejoice
at, but which the officials whose hearts are really in the country and
who have sufficient experience to understand the endless and
disastrous embarrassments that the disintegration of native law
relating to land would produce, deeply deplore. What has been the
result? The Egbas are beginning to buy and to sell land among
themselves in absolute violation of their own customs and laws,
thereby laying up for their country a heritage of trouble and inserting
the thin edge of the wedge of their own undoing by letting in the land
monopolist and speculator. This, according to all its professions and
to its actions in some specific circumstances, for which it is to be
warmly commended, is, in the view of the Administration, inimical to
the public interest of the Protectorate. What is springing up in
Abeokuta to-day will spread to the other districts to-morrow—nay, is
doing so.
Take another example. The welfare of an agricultural community
demands, for many reasons scientifically substantiated, that a stop
should be put to the reckless destruction of timbered areas such as
has been proceeding all over Yorubaland. This is inherently a public
interest, and the Forestry Officer in the discharge of his duties is
merely a servant of the public. But in the Western Province, for the
same reasons, we cannot or are unwilling to put our case to the
native authorities for the protection of the people against themselves
with the same moral force as in the case of the other two provinces.
We are confined, or think we are confined, to simple persuasion.
Now, persuasion by the Forestry Officer alone is one thing, and
persuasion by the Forestry Officer supported by direct
representations from the Executive at Lagos is a very different thing.
It is the latter form of persuasion that has been absent, and very
great credit is due alike to the Forestry Officers and to a
Commissioner trusted by the native rulers, Mr. W. A. Ross, as well
as to the intelligence of those native rulers themselves, that in the
Oyo district both State and communal reserves have been created,
the latter of great extent including the entire valley of the Ogun. But
in the Abeokuta and Ibadan districts persuasion has failed hitherto to
secure any really tangible results. It is almost unnecessary to point
out that the interests of the population do not suffer merely indirectly
and potentially, but directly thereby. Not only does Southern Nigeria
import quantities of timber from Europe when the country should
itself provide for all requirements, but even so primitive a necessity
as firewood is beginning to make itself felt round such towns as Ede,
Abeokuta, and Ibadan.
In these problems the policy of the Southern Nigeria
Administration has been to leave the matter to the native authorities,
in other words, to let the land question slide down a perilous
declivity, and to allow the question of forestry preservation to be left
to the unsupported efforts of the Forestry Department. If this policy of
non-interference had been consistently applied in other directions an
intelligible case, at least, might be made out for it. But the facts are
notoriously otherwise. To mention but one instance. Two years ago
pressure was put upon the Ibadan authorities to vote unpopular
licensing regulations in the interests of temperance, and one of the
incidents subsequently arising out of it was the stoppage of the
Bale’s stipend by the Acting Resident with the concurrence of the
Executive at Lagos! Only last February a Bill called the “Foreign
Jurisdiction Ordinance, 1911,” was passed through the Lagos
Legislative Council, which provides for the extension of the laws of
the colony to the Protectorate of Yorubaland (except Abeokuta)
without the native authorities being even consulted, the Attorney-
General adopting, in effect, the extraordinary position that the
Government could take no account of “agreements, understandings,
or letters” (concluded or written by previous Governors) with the
native chiefs! If the native chiefs realized what the logical outcome of
the Ordinance might mean for them, by an Executive in Lagos, which
adopted the legal argument quoted, there would be ferment from one
end of Yoruba to the other.
It must be clear from what precedes that the time has come when
the whole position of the Yoruba States in relation to the paramount
Power should be reconsidered. The railway and other agencies are
causing the country to move forward very fast, and conditions are
being evolved through the attempt to drive in two directions at once,
which can only lead, if not to the ultimate annexation of Yorubaland,
then to what would, if possible, be even worse—viz. the
strangulation by successive stages of every effective agency in
native government, leaving the chiefs and their councils mere
puppets in the hands of the Lagos Legislative Council. Now neither
of these courses is, I am convinced, desired by the Imperial
Government. The drift is, nevertheless, apparent to all that have
eyes to see and ears to hear. There is a strong party in Lagos
favouring direct rule. There is a combination of distinct influences—in
many respects working unconsciously—making for the break-up of
native land tenure and the undermining of native authority. There is
the increasing danger of leaving the land question unregulated and
the difficulty attending the adoption of adequate measures for forest
preservation.
Only one course would appear open to the authorities if they
desire to stop the dry rot. The first step would consist in getting the
Native Councils—i.e. the Chiefs in Council—of all the districts in the
Western Province to pass an identical measure of national land
preservation which would become known as the Yoruba Land Act.
Inalienability of land is the cardinal principle of Yoruba land tenure.
The preamble of the measure would define Yoruba law and custom
in regard to land. The body of the measure would declare to be
illegal all buying and selling of land, either between natives and
natives or between natives and non-natives, and would establish
limitations of area and time for the holding of leased lands by private
individuals or associations, with provision for revision of rentals at
specified periods. The need of such a measure should be
recognized and the action proposed sanctioned by the Secretary of
State, and the matter should be represented to the native authorities
with all the additional weight which in their eyes it would under those
circumstances possess. It cannot be doubted that were the measure
fully and thoroughly explained to the Native Councils and its urgency
in the interests of their people emphasized, little or no trouble would
be experienced in ensuring its adoption. In the improbable event of
difficulties arising it would be the plain duty of the Administration to
overcome them. The Administration should be able to count in a
matter of this kind upon the support of every patriotic educated
Yoruban. The second step would be more far-reaching—viz. the
general reconstruction of the machinery of national government over
the whole province, and the welding together under the headship of
the Alafin of Oyo—the “King and Lord of Yorubaland,” as he is
described in the British Treaty—working with a Council
representative of all Yorubaland, of the separate districts which
internal anarchy and external aggression between them have
caused to fall away from the central authority. The existing Councils
of the various districts would, of course, remain, but we should have
what we have not at present, a true “Yoruba Council,” a strong
central native Government through which the development, the
progress, and the common welfare of the country could proceed on
definite, ordered, national lines.
This would be Empire-building of the real kind. It would not be
unattended with difficulty. It would require time, much tact, and,
above all, full and frank exposition and explanation. But it is feasible
of accomplishment, and by a policy of this kind alone can one of the
most interesting and promising races of Western Africa hope to
reach, under our supreme direction, its full development. The
elements necessary to the success of such policy exist. They do not
need to be created, but only to have their vitality revived and their
course adjusted and guided.
PART III
NORTHERN NIGERIA
CHAPTER I
THE NATURAL HIGHWAY TO THE UPLANDS OF THE NORTH
The political events of which Northern Nigeria was the scene last
century are well known, but a brief recapitulation of them is
necessary by way of introduction to the study of its present
conditions, the life of its people, and the accomplishments and
problems of the British Administration.
In the opening years of the nineteenth century, what is now
Northern Nigeria consisted of the shattered remnants of the once
famous Bornu Empire; of seven independent states more or less
(generally less) controlled by chieftains of the remarkable so-called
“Hausa” race, invaders of a thousand years before “out of the East,”
and of the aboriginal inhabitants whose origin is lost in the mists of
antiquity. Scattered throughout the region and constantly shifting
their habitat in response to the necessities of their calling, were
tribes of light-coloured straight-haired people, Fulani, nomadic
herdsmen and shepherds. From the ranks of these people, spread
over West Africa from the Senegal to the Chad, had sprung from
time to time political leaders, divines and men of letters who had
played a conspicuous part in the history of the old Niger civilizations.
The Hausa Chieftains had established a nominal authority over a
wide expanse of territory and were constantly at war with the
aborigines on their borders. It was not, however, for warlike feats, but
for their commerce, farming, cotton and leather industry; for the
spread of their language; for the great centres of human activity they
had formed and for the fertility and prosperity of the land which they
had made their home, that the Hausas were justly renowned all over
Western and Northern Africa. They had evolved no great imperial
dominion whose various parts acknowledged a central Head, such,
alternately, as Melle, Ghanata, Kanem and Bornu; but they had
leavened with their intelligence and fertilised with their industrial
achievements some of the naturally richest areas of tropical West
Africa, and they had earned for themselves in these respects a
widespread fame.
It was at this period that a learned Fulani, Othman Fodio, fell foul
of the chieftain ruling over the most ancient and aristocratic of the
Hausa States, Gober. The latter, fearing for his authority, ordered all
the Fulani in his country to be slaughtered, with the result that
Othman found himself at the head of a numerous following.
Emerging successfully from the struggle, Othman preached a jihad,
confided sacred standards to his worthiest captains and despatched
them far and wide. The Hausa Chieftains were successively
overthrown and replaced by Fulani, and regions unassimilated
previously by the Hausas were occupied. Othman’s warriors even
crossed the Niger and invaded Yorubaland, a large part of which
they conquered and retained (Ilorin), the forest belt, Yoruba
resistance within it, and, probably, the tsetse fly proving an
insurmountable barrier to further progress southwards. Down the
Niger they advanced no further than the neighbourhood of Lokoja.
Othman adopted the title of Sarikin mussulmi, and during his life and
that of his son Bello, Hausaland experienced for the first time the
grip of a central, directing power. It is doubtful, however, if this
change in their rulers had much effect upon the mass of the
population, to whom dynastic convulsions mean very little, and it is
noteworthy that the Fulani conquerors possessed sufficient statecraft
to interfere but slightly with the complicated and efficient system of
administration and of taxation which the Hausas had introduced.
They took over the government of the towns from the Hausas, the
people in many instances assisting and welcoming them. The
general condition of the country remained pretty much what it had
been. Moreover—and this fact is significant in connection with the
arguments I shall presently adduce as regards the inspiring motive of
the Fulani uprising—such of the old Hausa families who by their
learning and piety had become invested with a special public sanctity
were not generally molested by the conquering Fulani. Thus the
Kauru, Kajura and Fatika families of Zaria, which had given birth to a
long line of Mallams, were preserved in all their authority and dignity
by Othman and his successors.
A period of comparative political quiet ensued. Othman issued
regulations, and caused them to be strictly enforced, inflicting the
severest punishments upon robbers and evil-doers generally. A
recrudescence of spiritual influence and of letters everywhere
manifested itself. Learned men flocked to Sokoto, where Othman
had built his capital, from West and North Africa. The trans-desert
trade revived. Security was so well established that Clapperton, who
visited the country during Bello’s reign, records the common saying
of the time that a woman could pass unmolested through the land,
even if she carried a casket of gold upon her head. With the death of
Bello the influence of the central power, enormously difficult to
maintain in any case owing to the greatness of the area and the
absence of ways of communication, declined. Administrative decay
gradually set in and extended with the years. Little by little the
authority of the Emir of Sokoto was openly questioned, in all save
spiritual matters. Allegiance slackened. Emirs quarrelled amongst
themselves. This or that chief acted on his own responsibility in
political affairs affecting the general weal, or entirely broke away
from control. The roads became infested with bands of highwaymen
whose proceedings differed in no way from the banditti of feudal
Europe. Rebellious chieftains formed robber strongholds. Military
operations degenerated into mere raiding for the capture and sale of
prisoners of war to replenish revenues from ordinary taxation which
the disturbed state of the country was causing to decrease.
There has probably been a natural tendency in recent years to
exaggerate the aggregate effect for evil upon the country which
accompanied the weakening of the Fulani dynasty. There is no proof
that the state of affairs was worse than what had obtained previous
to Othman’s jihad. It could hardly have been worse than the
condition of Western Europe at sundry stages in its history, when the
weakness of the paramount authority and the foraging and strife of
rival Barons combined to desolate the homesteads of the people and
lay waste the country side. Some notion of parallels in approaching
the events of West African history is very desirable, but not often
conspicuous. But there can be no doubt—the evidence of one’s own
eyes in ruined villages and once cultivated areas “gone to bush” is
conclusive—that when the alien Britisher arrived upon the scene as
a reforming political force, Northern Nigeria was once more urgently
in need of a power sufficiently strong to restore order. Such was the
condition of the Hausa States. In Bornu matters had gone from
disorder to chaos, culminating in the final tragedy of Rabeh’s
incursion, the slaughter of the Shehu and the sack of Kuka, the
capital.
There is no need here to describe the events which led to the
British occupation, or to narrate the circumstances attending it. We
have replaced the Fulani in supreme control of the destinies of
Northern Nigeria. We are there to stay. How are we carrying out our
self-imposed mission? What are the problems with which we have to
grapple? These are the questions to examine. But before doing so,
let us first see what manner of people they are over whom we rule
henceforth as over-lords. What is their mode of life, their principal
occupation, their character, and the material and spiritual influences
which direct their outlook and mould their existence?
CHAPTER III
THE INDIGENOUS CIVILIZATION OF THE NORTH