Nancy Mwende Munyoki

Abstract The growing need for accessible alternatives to synthetic insecticides has renewed interest in farmer-made botanical formulations for pest management. This study evaluated the efficacy of selected homemade botanical insecticides against diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae) on cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) and kale (B. oleracea var. acephala) under laboratory and semi-field conditions.

1 INTRODUCTION French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production holds an important economic role globally. In Kenya, it is mainly produced for export specifically to the EU market, with Britain being the major market (Fulano et al., 2021; Kariuki et al., 2012). It accounts for about 60% of all vegetables exported from Kenya, with small-scale farmers contributing over 80% of its production.