Natural Solutions to Pest Problems: Reviving My African Eggplant and Vegetables

Lately I've been having a bit of challenges at my farmland regarding places that feast on my farm crops, especially vegetables and maize, and these have gotten out of hand to the point where they hinder the growth of the plant, and after trying different methods to curb the situation, I'm almost short of options as to what to do going forward, until I was finally presented with a way out, all thanks to a friend.

One of the biggest victims of this pest invasion into my farmland is the Solanum macrocarpon, known popularly as the garden egg, African eggplant, or better yet, Igba by the Yoruba tribe here in Nigeria. I'm a member of this tribe and am very familiar with this plant right from when I was young, as my grandparents used to plant loads of it in our backyard, and eggplant is just one of my favorites back then because it serves multiple purposes when it comes to consumption.

These African eggplants can be eaten normally when harvested, and they can as well be mashed and cooked into a soup to eat yam or pounded yam. I can also remember something: it's dried and the uses for other types of soups as well, and that's not forgetting that their leaves are also highly medicinal and edible; they're used as herbs to cure illnesses such as diabetes, indigestion, and good eyesight, amongst others, and they can as well come as a soup.


Like I said, my African eggplant plantation is being plagued by pests, and more of the common ones I've noticed are aphids, whiteflies, and spider mites, and they went on to literally feast on both the leaf and stem, sucking the sap, and that leads to stunt growth ultimately for my African eggplant. These challenges persisted, affecting almost all the plantations, and in my bid to salvage the situation, I sought advice from my fellow farmers, who ended up giving me just the perfect advice that saved the situation for me.

The friend told me of how using neem oil and garlic spray on most of my farm crops can help combat these pests and ultimately chase them off my farmland. After adding both mixtures together, alongside some liquid, I spray it on the plants, as I was told it has a natural repellent in it and won't have any negative effect on the crops themselves, but only chasing the pests of them, and since I started doing this, I must say that I've noticed a huge difference and improvement on the plants.

They've started yielding better, and their leaf blossoms look fresh and healthy, unlike before when they're filled with holes that were the track of the pest that feasted on them. It's not only the African eggplant that was affected by the pest; other vegetables, such as my Fluted Pumpkin Leaves, popularly known as ugu, and efo Tete, popularly known as Africa spinach, also faced the same issues with the pest, as you can see from the first set of pictures.

But after using the prescribed solution by my friend and fellow farmer, the situation gradually changed, and I'm glad to see my place doing pretty well, and I can wait to harvest some for dinner. Although now that the African spinach is doing pretty well, I think it's time I get some wood to craft a bedding around it so it can spread its branches more and yield more as it grows.

Thanks so much for your time, have a wonderful day ahead.

All photos are mine and captured with my smartphone, Redmi 12.