Crops
For each key crop in Nigeria, find the main threats, the recommended products and the protection calendar.
Our crops
The recommendations below are based on our catalogue and the uses on the label. Adapt them to your area, your variety and the pest pressure you see in the field.
Our crops
Cereals
Fall armyworm and stem borers attack from the earliest stages; early weed control, up to the 8-leaf stage, is decisive for yield.
Main threats
Recommended products
Cereals
Weeds (grasses, sedges and broadleaves), rice blast and stem borers are the main yield-limiting factors in both irrigated and upland rice.
Main threats
Recommended products
Cereals
Hardy cereal of semi-arid zones, from the Sudano-Sahelian savannahs to the drylands of East Africa, sensitive to early weed competition, stem borers, fall armyworm and Striga.
Main threats
Recommended products
Cereals
Staple cereal of dry areas grown on light soils: pearl millet in the Sahel, finger millet in East Africa; early weeding, Striga and, in the Sahel, the millet head miner largely determine the harvest.
Main threats
Recommended products
Roots and tubers
Weed control during the first three months is decisive; healthy cuttings limit cassava mosaic disease, and mealybugs and green mites need watching in the dry season.
Main threats
Recommended products
Roots and tubers
Nematodes (Scutellonema bradys) damage tubers and shorten their storage life, while anthracnose (Colletotrichum) can defoliate fields in the wet season.
Main threats
Recommended products
Legumes
Flower thrips, the pod borer (Maruca vitrata), aphids and pod-sucking bugs call for 2–3 well-timed sprays: flower buds, flowering and pod formation.
Main threats
Recommended products
Legumes
Asian soybean rust, leaf spots and defoliating caterpillars are the main enemies; keep weeds under control until canopy closure.
Main threats
Recommended products
Legumes
Early and late leaf spot, aphid-borne rosette and termites near harvest are the main threats; keep the crop weed-free until pegging.
Main threats
Recommended products
Oilseeds
Fast-growing export crop, highly sensitive to early weed competition, the sesame webworm (Antigastra catalaunalis) and leaf diseases.
Main threats
Recommended products
Vegetables
Tuta absoluta, whiteflies (vectors of TYLCV), root-knot nematodes, late blight and early blight: only integrated protection with rotation of modes of action secures production.
Main threats
Recommended products
Vegetables
Whiteflies and thrips (virus vectors), mites, fruit anthracnose and root-knot nematodes: protection starts in the nursery.
Main threats
Recommended products
Vegetables
Thrips (Thrips tabaci) and purple blotch (Alternaria) are the main enemies; as a poorly competitive crop, onion suffers badly from weeds.
Main threats
Recommended products
Tree and plantation crops
Black pod (Phytophthora) in the rainy season and mirids in the second half of the year are the two major constraints; sanitary harvesting, controlled shade and well-timed sprays limit their impact.
Main threats
Recommended products
Tree and plantation crops
Keeping palm circles and inter-rows clean and controlling perennial grasses such as Imperata are decisive, especially during the immature phase.
Main threats
Recommended products
Fibre crops
Bollworms (Helicoverpa), jassids, aphids and whiteflies call for a planned protection programme from flowering to boll opening, with strict rotation of modes of action.
Main threats
Recommended products
Always read the label before use. Product information is given for guidance only; the label of the product authorised in your country always prevails.
Calendar
Indicative treatment periods for the main crops in Nigeria.
| Crop | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maize | March: Herbicides | April: Herbicides, Insecticides | May: Insecticides | June: Herbicides, Insecticides | July: Herbicides, Insecticides | August: Herbicides, Insecticides | ||||||
| Rice | January: Herbicides | February: Herbicides | July: Herbicides | August: Herbicides, Insecticides | September: Insecticides, Fungicides | October: Fungicides | ||||||
| Cowpea | July: Herbicides, Insecticides | August: Insecticides | September: Insecticides | October: Insecticides | ||||||||
| Tomato | January: Insecticides, Fungicides | February: Insecticides, Fungicides | March: Insecticides | October: Nematicides | November: Insecticides, Nematicides | December: Insecticides, Fungicides | ||||||
| Cocoa | March: Herbicides | April: Herbicides | May: Fungicides | June: Fungicides | July: Fungicides | August: Insecticides, Fungicides | September: Insecticides, Fungicides | October: Insecticides, Fungicides |
Indicative calendar: timing varies with location, variety and the season's rainfall. Follow the label and your field observations.
Our advisers will answer your questions and prepare a quote tailored to your crops and acreage.
