Pest Damage, Prevention and Control Measures for SS 1

Class: SS 1
Term: Second Term
Week: 4
Age: 15 years
Duration: 60 minutes
Subject: Crop Production and Horticulture
Curriculum Theme: Crop and Horticulture Management
Focal competence: Store and apply fertilizers and agrochemicals to plants for optimum yield
Key competencies/values: Critical Thinking; Information Literacy
Skills:

• Identifying the mode of Pest damage
• Applying preventive and control measures

Previous Lesson:
Topic: Pests And Control: Mode Of Pests’ Damage
Subject Matter: Mode of pests’ damage, Pests’ prevention and control measures

Specific Objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils/students should be able to:

Cognitive Domain

• discuss the mode of pests damage;
• explain pest prevention and control measures.

Reference Materials

The following resources were used in planning this lesson:

• 2025 New Revised Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (SSEC)
• Relevant State Unified Scheme of Work
• A suitable textbook for Crop Production and Horticulture for SS 1
• The HeadTeacher Scheme of work For The New Revised Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (SSEC)

Instructional Materials

The teacher will teach this lesson with the aid of:

• Posters showing different types of pest damage
• Pictures of various pests and their effects on crops
• Insect samples (preserved)
• Samples of damaged crops (e.g., leaves with holes, bored stems, discoloured fruits)
• Charts illustrating pest control methods

Rationale for the Lesson

This lesson is important for understanding how pests reduce crop yield and quality, which directly impacts food security and farmers’ income. By learning about the modes of damage and effective control measures, students can develop practical skills to protect crops. This knowledge is fundamental for sustainable agricultural practices and effective crop management.

Prerequisite/Previous Knowledge

Pupils/students should have a basic understanding of what pests are and their general impact on agriculture.

Lesson Content/Board Summary

Pests And Control: Mode Of Pests’ Damage

Mode of Pests’ Damage

Pests damage crops in various ways, leading to reduced yield, quality, and market value. The mode of damage often depends on the type of pest and the part of the plant attacked. Damage can occur in the field or during storage.

Field Pests Damage

Pests in the field typically damage living plants. Common modes of damage include:

1. Biting and Chewing: Pests like grasshoppers, caterpillars, and beetles bite off and chew plant parts.

• Defoliation: Eating leaves, leading to reduced photosynthesis (e.g., caterpillars, locusts). Observable characteristics include holes in leaves, chewed leaf margins, or complete removal of leaves.
• Stem Boring: Larvae of certain insects bore into stems, weakening the plant and disrupting nutrient flow (e.g., stem borers in maize). Observable characteristics include wilting, stunted growth, sawdust-like frass, and holes in stems.
• Fruit/Pod Damage: Chewing on fruits or pods, making them unmarketable or prone to rot (e.g., fruit flies, pod borers). Observable characteristics include holes, discolouration, and premature fruit drop.

• Sap Removal: They suck sap from leaves, stems, and fruits, causing wilting, yellowing, and stunted growth. Observable characteristics include curled leaves, sticky honeydew (leading to sooty mould), and the presence of the pests themselves.
• Virus Transmission: Many sucking pests act as vectors, transmitting viral diseases from one plant to another.

• Root Boring: Affects nutrient uptake and anchorage (e.g., root weevils).
• Tuber/Rhizome Boring: Damages underground storage organs (e.g., sweet potato weevil).

Store Pests Damage

Pests in storage primarily damage harvested produce like grains, tubers, and dried fruits. Common modes of damage include:

1. Chewing and Boring: Pests like weevils, rats, and moths bore into and consume stored grains and other produce.

• Grain Destruction: Eating the endosperm and germ of grains, reducing weight, nutritional value, and viability for planting. Observable characteristics include small holes in individual grains, powdery dust (frass), webbing, and reduced bulk density.
• Contamination: Leaving faeces, urine, dead bodies, and cast skins, which contaminate the produce and make it unfit for consumption.
• Heat and Moisture: Pest activity can generate heat and moisture, creating conditions favourable for mould growth and further spoilage.

Pests’ Prevention and Control Measures

Effective pest management involves a combination of preventive and control measures to minimize damage and ensure healthy crops.

Prevention Measures

These measures aim to stop pests from establishing or causing significant damage.

1. Cultural Practices:

• Crop Rotation: Planting different crops in a sequence to break pest life cycles and reduce pest populations.
• Sanitation/Field Hygiene: Removing crop residues, weeds, and volunteer plants that can harbour pests.
• Use of Resistant Varieties: Planting crop varieties that are naturally resistant or tolerant to specific pests.
• Proper Planting Time: Planting crops at times when pest populations are low or when the crop can escape severe damage.
• Proper Spacing: Ensuring adequate plant spacing to improve air circulation and reduce humidity, which can deter some pests.

• Hand Picking: Manually removing large pests like caterpillars or snails from plants.
• Traps: Using sticky traps, pheromone traps, or light traps to catch and monitor pests.
• Barriers: Using nets or fences to prevent pests from reaching crops.
• Tillage: Ploughing and harrowing can expose soil-dwelling pests to predators or adverse weather conditions.

• Utilizing natural enemies of pests, such as predators (e.g., ladybirds eating aphids), parasites (e.g., parasitic wasps), and pathogens (e.g., bacteria, fungi that infect insects).

Control Measures

These measures are applied when preventive methods are insufficient and pest populations reach damaging levels.

1. Chemical Control:

• Pesticides: Using chemical substances to kill or repel pests. These include insecticides (for insects), acaricides (for mites), and rodenticides (for rodents).
• Types of Pesticides: Contact poisons, stomach poisons, systemic poisons, fumigants.
• Safe Application: Emphasizing correct dosage, proper timing, use of protective gear, and adherence to withdrawal periods to minimize harm to humans, beneficial organisms, and the environment.

• A holistic approach that combines various pest management techniques (cultural, biological, physical, and chemical) in an environmentally sound and economically viable manner.
• IPM aims to manage pest populations below economically damaging levels rather than complete eradication, prioritizing non-chemical methods first.

Teaching Methods/Instructional Techniques

Discussion, Demonstration, Guided Practice, Question and Answer, Explanation, Observation, Group Work

Instructional Procedures

Step 1: Introduction

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Questioning/Recall

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher greets the students and asks them to recall what they know about pests and their general effects on crops from previous lessons or observations.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils respond by sharing their prior knowledge about pests.

Learning Point: Previous pest knowledge

Step 2: Discussion of Field Pests’ Damage

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Explanation/Observation

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher guides students to use pictures and samples of damaged crops to identify and discuss the mode of pest damage in the field, explaining biting/chewing, sucking, and boring. The teacher highlights observable characteristics for each mode.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils observe the pictures and samples, identify different types of damage, and participate in the discussion.

Learning Point: Field pest damage

Step 3: Discussion of Store Pests’ Damage

Time: 8 minutes

Teaching Skill: Explanation/Discussion

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher continues by explaining how pests damage stored crops, focusing on chewing and boring activities of pests like weevils and rats. The teacher uses pictures of damaged stored produce to illustrate the points.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen, observe the pictures, and contribute to the discussion on store pest damage.

Learning Point: Store pest damage

Step 4: Introduction to Prevention Measures

Time: 8 minutes

Teaching Skill: Explanation/Brainstorming

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher introduces the concept of pest prevention and guides students to brainstorm various methods, using pictures and other relevant materials to discuss cultural and physical prevention measures.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils suggest prevention methods and discuss the examples provided by the teacher.

Learning Point: Pest prevention methods

Step 5: Discussion of Control Measures

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Explanation/Demonstration

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher explains different pest control measures, including biological and chemical control. The teacher emphasizes the importance of safe application for chemical pesticides and shows pictures of protective gear.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen attentively, ask questions, and discuss the implications of different control methods.

Learning Point: Pest control measures

Step 6: Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Time: 4 minutes

Teaching Skill: Explanation

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher introduces Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as a comprehensive approach, explaining how it combines various methods for sustainable pest control.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen and grasp the concept of IPM.

Learning Point: Integrated Pest Management

Step 7: Evaluation/Review

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Questioning/Assessment

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher evaluates the learning by asking the following questions:

1. Mention three ways pests damage crops in the field.
2. Describe two modes of damage caused by pests in storage.
3. Explain two cultural practices used for pest prevention.
4. List two methods of pest control.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils answer orally and in writing.

Learning Point: Pest damage and control

Step 8: Note-Taking

Time: 10 minutes

Teaching Skill: Guided Writing

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher guides pupils/students to copy the essential Board Summary notes on the modes of pest damage and prevention/control measures into their notebooks.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils/students copy the notes carefully into their notebooks.

Learning Point: Pests’ damage and control

Step 9: Conclusion

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Reinforcement

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher summarises the key points of the lesson, reiterating the importance of understanding pest damage and implementing appropriate prevention and control measures for successful crop production.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen and ask any final questions.

Learning Point: Importance of pest management

Continuous Assessment/Further Study

Type: Homework

Instruction: Answer the following questions in your notebook:

1. Differentiate between field pests and store pests, giving two examples for each.
2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using chemical control methods for pests.
3. Research and write a short paragraph on an example of a biological control agent used in Nigeria.

Lesson Keywords

• Pests – Organisms that cause damage to crops, livestock, or humans.
• Defoliation – The process of leaves falling off a plant, often caused by pests eating them.
• Boring – The act of digging or chewing tunnels into plant parts or stored produce.
• Sucking – The act of pests piercing plant tissues and drawing out sap.
• Cultural practices – Farming methods used to manage pests, such as crop rotation and sanitation.
• Biological control – Using natural enemies (predators, parasites) to control pest populations.
• Chemical control – Using pesticides to kill or repel pests.
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM) – A comprehensive approach combining various methods to manage pests sustainably.

Differentiation

Support: Provide simplified diagrams and pre-labelled samples for students who struggle with identifying damage types. Pair them with more capable students for discussion activities.
Extension: Encourage advanced students to research specific pest species common in their locality and their unique damage patterns or to investigate the environmental impact of different control methods.

Suggested Lesson Videos

For further understanding of pest damage and control, students can search on YouTube for:

• modes of pest damage crop production ss1
• pest prevention and control measures agriculture