PERI-URBAN LETTUCE PRODUCTION IN THE KUMASI METROPOLIS: DISEASES AND FARMERS’ MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Description

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), an annual leafy herb belonging to the family Compositae, is one of the most popular salad crops, and occupies the largest production area among salad crops in the world. Often times, its production is hindered by diseases particularly, leaf blight diseases, referred to by farmers as “dot disease”. The study was carried out in four major lettuce growing communities (KNUST, Boadi, Gyinyase and University of Education, Winneba-Kumasi campus) and comprised a survey where questionnaires were administered to catalogue diseases associated with peri-urban vegetables production, management strategies employed by the farmers and laboratory experiment for isolation and identification of pathogens associated with the diseases. Leaf blight, leaf spot and powdery mildew were the major diseases mentioned by the farmers. Samples of leaf blight disease of lettuce were collected from each community for isolation of causative organisms.