| dc.description.abstract | Low soil fertility, weeds, pests, and climatic change severely threaten crop productivity
and agricultural sustainability, especially in SSA. Despite decades of research finding
adequate technical solutions for most situations of food systems, the problem of low food
productivity has persisted. In an effort to counter this, intensive agricultural systems have
been mooted including the high application of agrochemicals to control weeds, and pests
and increase production. However, these initiatives have not lasted beyond the project
cycle and they have instigated land degradation through unsustainable practices. As a
solution, conservation agricultural practices have been promoted among small-scale
farmers. These practices focus on minimizing soil disturbance, crop diversification, and
cover cropping. Push-pull technology is an aspect of conservation agriculture where
intercropping a cereal crop with a repellent plant, such as desmodium and planting an
attractive trap plant, such as brachiaria or Napier grass as a border crop around this
intercrop. This paper aimed at reviewing existing literature to establish the linkage
between conservation agriculture components, push-pull technology, and a sustainable
agroecological transition. A list of questions directed the discussion where push-pull
technology has been proven to be an aspect that promotes conservation agriculture. It
has been able to increase crop yields, reduced tillage, established a cover crop on the
farm, and further, PPT has a regenerative aspect through the integration of livestock
husbandry providing organic manure that and together with the nitrogen fixation ability of
the grass, improve soil fertility, conserved soil moisture, and reduce erosion. This reduces
the use of inorganic input, and machinery making farming economical for small-holder
farmers. | en_US |
