This study aims to find out about effectiveness of pest repellent plants on pest management in relation to organic strawberry farming in Rwanda. The main objective of the study was particularly to classify different insect species that affect strawberries, investigate the effects of plant-based repellents on strawberry production, and assess the interaction between plant repellents and strawberry pest management. This aligns with the findings from a previous baseline study, which identified gaps in knowledge, needs, and priorities among value chain actors for strawberries in Rwanda as part of the Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative Project (EOA). The baseline highlighted gaps in accessibility and availability of organic pesticides, the appropriate formulations of organic pesticides, the specific crop application, time and frequency of application. However, in the traditional farming systems in Rwanda, organic farmers usually apply natural pest control methods by intercropping repellent plants without any scientific evidence. Researchers might find this concerning because scientific evidence regarding their effectiveness and safety may be lacking or not readily accessible to users. Therefore, to come up with scientific facts, the present study carried out field experiments on certain pesticidal repellent materials, particularly African marigold (Tagetes erecta) used by farmers to control pests in vegetable production. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three different treatments at the university farm. Treatments consisted of strawberry alone (T0), strawberry in raw intercropping with African marigold (T1), and strawberry in strip intercropping with African marigold (T2) with three replications that yield nine experimental units. Thus, African marigold has been selected to be intercropped with strawberry in order to study its effectiveness. In conclusion, the results of the on-farm trials showed the effectiveness of African marigold with great success in controlling pests in strawberry gardens as they contain active ingredients with pesticidal and repellent properties.

Keywords: African marigold, Insects, Pest, Repellent plants, Strawberry