Paul Van Mele
Africa Rice Center
Network
Latest external collaboration on country level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots.
Publication
Featured researches published by Paul Van Mele.
Agricultural and Forest Entomology | 2007
Paul Van Mele
1 Although the weaver ant Oecophylla is the first written record of biological control, dating from 304 ad, there have been fewer than 70 scientific publications on this predator as a biological control agent in Asia, from the early 1970s onwards, and fewer than 25 in Africa.
Journal of Economic Entomology | 2007
Paul Van Mele; Jean-François Vayssières; Esther Van Tellingen; Jan Vrolijks
Abstract Six mango,Mangifera indica L., plantations around Parakou, northern Benin, were sampled at 2-wk intervals for fruit fly damage from early April to late May in 2005. Mean damage ranged from 1 to 24% with a weaver ant,Oecophylla longinoda (Latreille), being either abundant or absent. The fruit fly complex is made up ofCeratitis spp. andBactrocera invadens Drew et al., a new invasive species in West Africa. In 2006,Ceratitis spp. peaked twice in the late dry season in early April and early May, whereasB.invadens populations quickly increased at the onset of the rains, from mid-May onward. Exclusion experiments conducted in 2006 with ‘Eldon’, ‘Kent’, and ‘Gouverneur’ confirmed that at high ant abundance levels,Oecophylla significantly reduced fruit fly infestation. Although fruit fly control methods are still at an experimental stage in this part of the world, farmers who tolerated weaver ants in their orchard were rewarded by significantly better fruit quality. Conservation biological control with predatory ants such asOecophylla in high-value tree crops has great potential for African and Asian farmers. Implications for international research for development at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research level are discussed.
International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability | 2009
Espérance Zossou; Paul Van Mele; Simplice D. Vodouhe; Jonas Wanvoeke
Understanding how to stimulate innovation among farmers and processors is crucial for attaining sustainable agriculture. To explore how farmer-to-farmer learning videos and training workshops changed womens rice processing practices, we interviewed 200 women and 17 womens groups in 20 villages in central Benin, including four villages which had received no intervention at all. Video on improved rice parboiling (a process whereby paddy is pre-cooked by steam without touching the water) had reached three times more women (74%) than hands-on training workshops organized by local NGOs and contributed to more equitable knowledge sharing within communities. In the villages where the NGOs had shown the video, 24% of the women started to use the improved parboiler equipment individually and 56% collectively within their group, compared to none in the control villages. About 92% of the women who attended both video and workshops developed creative solutions based on the idea of pre-cooking paddy with steam, compared to 72% for those who learned only through video. Fewer women innovated after learning through workshops only (19%) and after being informed by their peers (15%). Video watching also made women pay attention to reducing the loss of steam and to use local resources innovatively to conserve energy. More than 90% of the women who watched the video improved the quality of their parboiled rice, for example, by removing dirt, washing rice several times and drying rice on tarpaulins. Workshops stimulated innovations less than video did. Farmer-to-farmer video has great potential to enhance sustainable agriculture by encouraging local innovations.
Physiological Entomology | 2009
Paul Van Mele; Jean-François Vayssières; Appolinaire Adandonon; Antonio Alain Coffi Sinzogan
Abstract. Although most studies on fruit fly oviposition behaviour focus on horizontal interactions with competitors and cues from host plants, vertical interactions with predators are poorly documented. The present study provides direct evidence indicating that the oviposition behaviour of the two main mango fruit fly species, Ceratitis cosyra (Walker) and Bactrocera invadens Drew‐Tsurata & White, is affected by secretions of the dominant arboreal ant Oecophylla longinoda (Latreille). When offered ant‐exposed and unexposed mangoes in the absence of the ants, both fly species are reluctant to land on ant‐exposed fruits and, when having landed, often take off quickly and fail to oviposit. The number of puparia collected from unexposed mangoes is approximately eight‐fold higher than from ant‐exposed ones. The results obtained from laboratory experiments and field observations confirm that adult fruit flies are more affected through repellence by ant cues than by direct predation. The use of cues by fruit flies in predator avoidance has implications for evolutionary ecology, behavioural ecology and chemical ecology.
The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension | 2009
Espérance Zossou; Paul Van Mele; Simplice D. Vodouhe; Jonas Wanvoeke
Abstract This article deals with the comparison of the conventional training based on two day community workshops and farmer-to-farmer video used as methodologies for the dissemination of improved rice parboiling process in Benin. From November 2007 to May 2008, we interviewed 160 women and 17 women groups who had been exposed to both, one or other of the methodologies. Data were analysed using ANOVA and logistic binomial regressions. Video reached more women (74%) than conventional training (27%). The conventional training was biased by participant selection, stakes in per diem payment and monopoly by the elite class. Video helped to overcome local power structures and reduced conflict at the community level. More than 95% of those who watched the video adopted drying their rice on tarpaulins and removed their shoes before stirring the rice, compared to about 50% of those who received traditional training and did not watch the video. Group use of the improved equipment was significantly higher for those who watched the video (p< 0.05). By 2009, the various rice videos had been translated into over 30 African languages by Africa Rice Centre (Africa Rice) partners and involved 500 organizations and over 130,000 farmers. This study helps to give a better understanding of the role that farmer-to-farmer video could play in agricultural extension. This comparative analysis is an opportunity for a better understanding of how farmer-to-farmer video improves farmers’ practices and attitudes in agricultural technology dissemination.
International Journal of Pest Management | 2009
Appolinaire Adandonon; Jean-François Vayssières; Antonio Alain Coffi Sinzogan; Paul Van Mele
As damage by the fruit flies Bactrocera invadens and Ceratitis cosyra is significantly reduced in mango trees with weaver ants, but we rarely observed adult flies being captured, we investigated whether Oecophylla pheromones affect fruit fly oviposition behaviour. Mangoes were collected within 1 m and 1–3 m distance from ant nests, and from ant-free trees. Using both choice and no-choice tests, fruit flies were allowed to oviposit on fruits for 72 h in the absence of ants. Flies landed significantly more and spent more time on fruit from ant-free than from ant-colonized trees. The density of ant pheromone sources significantly affected the oviposition time and the number of fruit fly pupae collected per kg fruit under greenhouse conditions. However, field data did not show any difference in damage for fruit collected within 1 m and 1–3 m distance from ant nests, suggesting that physical or visual mechanisms complement the repellencey effect of ant pheromones against fruit flies.
Development in Practice | 2010
Paul Van Mele; Jonas Wanvoeke; Espérance Zossou
Africa Rice Center (WARDA) facilitated the development and translation of 11 rice videos. From 2005 to 2009, WARDA partners translated them into more than 30 African languages. Open-air video presentations enhanced learning, experimentation, confidence, trust, and group cohesion among rural people. The videos strengthened capacities of more than 500 organisations and hundreds of thousands of farmers. WARDAs integrated rural learning approach also helped women to access new markets and credit. Learning videos allow for unsupervised learning; unleash local creativity and experimentation; facilitate institutional innovations; and improve social inclusion of the poor, youth, and women.
Journal of Sustainable Agriculture | 2011
Ataharul Huq Chowdhury; Paul Van Mele; Michael Hauser
Sustainable agriculture requires suitable group learning approaches that trigger capital assets building. Drawing mainly on face-to-face extension, methods and approaches used in sustainable agricultural projects aim at triggering learning and capital assets building. To target and to reach out to a large number of resource-poor households the potential role of media, such as video, has received less attention. In Bangladesh, videos on sustainable rice seed practices were developed with farmers and then shown in multiple villages. This study reports on the contribution of farmer-to-farmer video-mediated group learning to capital assets building of women in resource-poor households. Data were collected using structured interviews with 140 randomly selected women in 28 video villages and 40 women in four control villages in north-west Bangladesh. Video-mediated group learning enhanced womens ability to apply and experiment with seed technologies. It also stimulated reciprocal sharing of new knowledge and skills between them, other farmers and service providers. Rice yields increased by 15%, which improved the womens social and economic status and intra-household decision-making. Over 20% of the households attained rice self-sufficiency, with no changes observed in control villages. This study has provided insights into the potential use of farmer-to-farmer video in sustainable agriculture to strengthen human, social and financial capital and to reduce poverty.
International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability | 2010
Espérance Zossou; Paul Van Mele; Simplice D. Vodouhe; Jonas Wanvoeke
When the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)1 introduced improved parboiling technology in Benin in 2006 through farmer-to-farmer video, it enhanced womens creativity and motivation to parboil more and better the quality of rice. Their rice attracted more buyers and fetched a higher price which increased their profits and strengthened the womens social cohesion. The video motivated women to start parboiling as a group and to express group-based requests for credit and training. However, newly established womens groups in villages with strong negative experiences from the cotton sector did not last because of fear and mistrust. The video helped local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to improve their training methods and strengthened their relations with rural communities and between the women rice processors and input and output markets. Although these NGOs responded by facilitating access to micro-finance institutions, they were unwilling to provide credit to the groups because of past bad experiences. Instead, informal credit suppliers proved more responsive. Rice producers who attended the open-air video shows at the same time as the women rice processors became more willing to sell them rice on credit. We discuss the conditions and challenges of farmer-to-farmer video in creating organizational and institutional changes among service providers and rural entrepreneurs.
Experimental Agriculture | 2011
Florent Okry; Paul Van Mele; Edwin Nuijten; P.C. Struik; Roch L. Mongbo
SUMMARY This paper analyses the organization of the rice seed sector in Guinea with the overall objectives to assess how organizational settings affect seed supply to small-scale farmers and to suggest institutional changes that would favour seed service and uptake of varieties. Data were collected in Guinea, West Africa, using focus group discussions with extension workers, farmers, representatives of farmers’ associations, agroinput dealers, researchers and non-governmental organization (NGO) staff, and surveys of 91 rice farming households and 41 local seed dealers. Findings suggest that the current institutional settings and perceptions of stakeholders from the formal seed sector inhibit smallholder farmers’ access to seed. Seed interventions in the past two decades have mainly relied on the national extension system, the research institute, NGOs, farmers’ associations and contract seed producers to ensure seed delivery. Although local seed dealers play a central role in providing seed to farmers, governmental organizations operating in a linear model of formal seed sector development have so far ignored their role. We discuss the need to find common ground and alternative models of seed sector development. In particular we suggest the involvement of local seed dealers in seed development activities to better link the formal and the informal seed systems and improve smallholder farmers’ access to seed from the formal sector.