OUR FELLOWS
Lucy Kananu Murungi got hooked on insects after her second-year university entomology lecturer introduced students to pheromones, the chemicals that insects use to communicate, prompting her to conduct a research attachment at ICIPE in Nairobi, Kenya.
The efficacy of essential oils extracted from the leaves of the hairy African nightshade compares with that of neem oil, which is sold commercially as a pest-control product,” Murungi reports. “Farmers could eventually grow this nightshade species commercially for biopesticide production.
Field of Research
Holistic management of herbivorous pests by focusing on semiochemicals in plant-pest interactions to reduce crop losses threatening the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers