Mr Kenneth Ng'ambi1, Mr Tandwe Twaibu1, Mrs Rosheen Mthawanji2

1Mzuzu University, Mzuzu, Malawi, 2Malawi Liverpool Welcome Trust, Blantyre, Malawi

Biography:

Kenneth Ng'ambi is an upcoming researcher with a second upper class honers degree in parasitology and disease vector control obtained from Mzuzu university. He is currently working as an associate lecture at mzuzu university, department of biological sciences where he lectures entomology related courses. He is currently working on a number of research projects, some which are under abstract drafting and others are under review in different journals.

Abstract:

Malawi is undergoing unprecedented expansion in sugarcane irrigation farming. This can increase Anopheles mosqueoto population, putting surrounding communities at risk of malaria.

This study investigated the effects of sugarcane irrigation on Anopheles mosquito abundance and diversity, specific it; Assessed the effects of sugarcane irrigation on mosquito abundance in areas surrounding irrigated farms and Compared Anopheles species diversity and abundance in sugarcane irrigated and non-irrigated areas.

Adult mosquitoes were collected from December to January 2021-2022 from 8 pm to 6 am using CDC light traps in two sites surrounding Illovo sugar estate. The collected Anopheles mosquitoes were sorted using morphological keys and the aid of a dissecting microscope. Data was analyzed using Excel, SPSS, and Past. t-tests and Shannon diversity indices were used to compare the abundance and species diversity between the two sites.

Overall, 513 mosquitoes were collected in both sites, 354(69%) mosquitoes were from the irrigated site, and 159 (31%) were from the non-irrigated site. About 64(12.67%) mosquitoes were of the genus Anopheles, the Anopheles mosquitoes were of three species; Anopheles funestus (n=38,60%), An. Ghambie n=25,38%), and An. Arabiensis (n= 1,2%). About 47(74%) of the Anopheles mosquitoes were from the non-irrigated site and 17 (26.15%) were from the irrigated site. Both general mosquito abundance and Anopheles mosquito abundance from the two sites were not significantly different (p-value = 0.2963). Anopheles mosquito diversity was higher in the non-irrigated site (0.7744) than in the irrigated site (0.5456).

Sugarcane irrigation resulted in very little mosquito abundance and diversity due to proper management and regular maintenance of irrigation canals, reducing the risk of malaria in the surrounding communities. An.funestus was higher than other Anopheles species in sugarcane fields due to the shaded breeding sites created by sugarcane plants which are favorable for its breeding.