Mulugeta, Tewodros;Muhinyuza, Jean-Baptiste;Gouws-Meyer, Reinette;Matsaunyane, Lerato;Andreasson, Erik;Alexandersson, Erik

Tshwane Univ Technol, Dept Crop Sci, ZA-0183 Pretoria, South Africa;Kotebe Metropolitan Univ, Dept Biol, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia;Agr Res Council Vegetable & Ornamental Plants, Dept Plant Breeding, ZA-0001 Pretoria, South Africa;Addis Ababa Univ, Dept Zool Sci, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia;Univ Rwanda, Coll Agr Anim Sci & Vet Med UR CAVM, Busogo Campus, Musanze 210, Rwanda;Swedish Univ Agr Sci SLU, Dept Plant Protect Biol, SE-23053 Alnarp, Sweden

African agriculture;botanicals;crop protection;pathogen;plant strengtheners;pesticide;pests;diseases;potato;tomato

This review provides a summary of botanicals and plant strengtheners that have potential uses for disease and pest management in potato and tomato cultivation in African. We discuss their possible use to prevent major diseases and pests which infest potato and tomato, such as early and late blight, bacterial wilt, potato tuber moth, and tomato leafminer. There are several examples of the successful uses of botanicals for pathogen and pest control relevant for different African climatic conditions; however, most of these studies have been conducted in vitro and often lack field verification. Plant strengtheners (substances that induce and improve crop resistance, yield, and quality) are little studied and used in Africa in comparison to North America and Europe. The possible benefits of using botanicals and plant strengtheners instead of conventional pesticides are discussed here in relation to human health and the environment as well as their modes of action and accessibility to farmers. Lack of knowledge of the composition and active ingredients of extracts, environmental concerns, uncertainties regarding stability and formulation, lack of legislation and limited support from governments, hamper the development of botanicals and plant strengtheners for use in sustainable African agriculture.