Assessment Of Farmers‟ Indeginous Knowledge Towards Termites Impacts On Vegetation, Crops And Control Methods:A Case Of Dale Wabera Distric, West Wollega, Ethiopia

Abstract

Termites are social insects found mainly over two-thirds of the landmass involving some 100 countries. The present study is aimed to assess farmers’ indigenous knowledge in termites’ effect of termite infestation on vegetation, crops, construction and control Methodism Dale Wabera district. Data were collected through open ended questionnaire surveys, group discussion and interview for people particularly in the damaged area and analyzed using descriptive statistical methods and the result was displayed in the form of table, pie chart and figure. In the study, data was collected from one hundreds twelve (112) respondents from the total populations of the study area. Among these informants, thirty two (32, 29%) of them were taken as key informants by using purposive sampling technique and eighty (80, 71%)of them were taken by using simple random sampling technique as the general respondents. About 65.63% of the millet and sorghum were types of crops that were highly cultivated crops as responded by the respondents. During this study, there were different factors that cause termite infestation like deforestation, overgrazing, inadequate food and soil erosion were some of the causes of termite infestation. Strategies of rehabilitation of bare land and protecting an area from overgrazing by live stocks should be advised. Mechanisms of termite control should be programmed by concerned bodies in order to tackle termite infestation and methods of maintaining the damaged land should be implemented in order to overcome the problems. As well as scaling up of sustainable land management best practices and encouraging farmers to cultivate vegetables and tubers that are resistant to termites.