CAP launches guidebook: “Managing Pests in Home Gardens”
GREEN ACTION WEEK 2020
The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) today launched a guidebook titled “Managing Pests in Home Gardens” in conjunction with the annual Green Action Week. This 20-page full-coloured book is available in four languages i.e. Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil.
During the COVID19 pandemic and lockdown, many households had resorted to start growing vegetables in their home gardens. The government also encouraged communities and individuals to start planting crops in residential areas and promoted urban gardens.
Some home gardeners encountered problems with pests. Following this CAP received many calls from the public requesting non-chemical based solutions for pest management. Hence CAP decided to produce this guide as part of our sharing community platform, which is the theme of the Green Action Week.
The guidebook provides some basic knowledge about common pests in our garden and the role of predator insects in managing them. It also gives tips on making of simple pest control solutions and ways to attract beneficial insects to our garden.
CAP’s campaign on sustainable consumption through sharing and collaborative communities have also resulted in the establishment of several active sharing platforms including seed sharing network and gardening network. Besides this, we are advocating for bans on highly hazardous pesticides so that we and our future generations are not exposed to these toxics.
Last week, CAP submitted a memorandum calling on a ban on glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides, which are widely used globally. All these agro-chemicals are poisoning us and the environment. We need to stop using these poisons and also demand that these toxics are no longer manufactured and sold.
Many of the world’s crops are pollinated by insects. If pesticides continue to be used, we will be killing the beneficial insects and the pollinators, and hence threaten our food supply.
What we need is food security, food safety and food accessibility. These can be achieved by growing your own food. Please join CAP in reviving the sharing community of the past, grow your own food and start sharing your produce and knowledge for the betterment of the world.
Note: The Green Action Week is a global campaign to promote sustainable consumption. Each year in October, organisations around the world take joint action to promote a common cause. This year, 50 civil society organisations in 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas participate in the campaign.
Press Statement, 3 October 2020