CREATE! technicians help cooperative members prepare organic pesticides using an improved cookstove.
CREATE! field technicians and garden cooperative members want an “end to the use of chemical pesticides, which are a threat to people and the environment!” In the past, cooperative members have applied some chemical pesticides to deter insects from eating crops. CREATE! technicians have been experimenting with different types of homemade organic pesticides. In Thieneba, cooperative members treated eggplant with a mixture of oils from neem and eucalyptus trees. In Diender, women have been testing combinations of chilies, soap, garlic, and mineral oil to prevent damage from caterpillars. Testing of these pesticide alternatives is ongoing, but early signs indicate success. Switching from chemical to organic pesticides would greatly improve the health of cooperative members and their gardens.
Cooperative members make the pesticides using native plant species such as neem and eucalyptus.
After preparing the pesticides, technicians apply it to crops, such as these eggplants.