Agape Push Pull App for Maize and Sorghum Farmers

Your Maize Field Needs a System, Not Another Emergency Meeting

A Ugandan maize farmer walks into the field and discovers three troublesome visitors.

The first is chewing the crop. The second is hiding inside the stems. The third—Striga—is growing boldly beside the maize as though it contributed money for seed.

Advice begins arriving immediately:

“Spray quickly.”

“Add fertilizer.”

“Plant another crop between the rows.”

“Remove everything and begin again.”

The farmer may hear the words push–pull, but knowing the name of a farming system is not the same as knowing how to establish it correctly. Field layout, companion plants, timing and maintenance all matter.

That is the knowledge gap the Agape Push Pull App is designed to address.

A digital guide for a biological farming system

Agape Innovations Limited describes its Push Pull App as a digital guide to push–pull technology developed by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, or icipe.

According to Agape’s current website, the app guides farmers through setting up and maintaining a push–pull farming system for maize and sorghum. Agape says the system is intended to help manage pests and Striga while supporting soil conditions and crop growth. The same webpage currently provides an APK download link. See Agape’s official app information. (Agape Innovations)

The app does not spray a field, plant companion crops or weed the maize while the farmer watches football. Its job is to make practical information easier to reach and follow.

That matters because push–pull is a system—not one product that can be thrown into the field after damage appears.

What does “push–pull” mean?

The following is general agronomic information about the farming system, not a guarantee of results from the app.

In a push–pull arrangement, selected companion plants are grown with and around the main crop.

Broadly:

The “push” plant is established within the cereal field to make that area less attractive or suitable to certain pests while contributing other agronomic functions.
The “pull” plant is established around the field to attract or intercept target pests away from the main crop.
Appropriate companion plants may also help suppress Striga, provide soil cover or produce livestock fodder, depending on the particular system.

The exact plants and field design must match the recommended push–pull system, local conditions and available planting material. A farmer should not substitute any sweet-smelling grass or creeping legume and confidently announce that science has been completed.

icipe’s current Push-Pull PLUS platform describes push–pull as an agroecological system for managing stemborers, fall armyworm and Striga. It also identifies nitrogen fixation, natural mulching and fodder production among the system’s wider functions. Explore icipe’s official Push-Pull PLUS platform. (Agroecological Innovation)

Why put this knowledge in an app?

A farming practice can be scientifically sound yet remain difficult to adopt if its instructions reach farmers only during occasional training sessions.

A farmer may forget:

Which companion plant belongs inside the cereal rows
Which plant forms the border
How the field should be laid out
When each crop should be planted
How the companion plants should be maintained
What to do when establishment is poor
How the system changes as the field expands

Agape developed the app with researchers from the University of Leeds, Keele University and icipe. At its 2021 launch, the university partners reported that it had been designed for basic Android smartphones, could operate offline and presented information for getting started with push–pull. They also described the use of audio, visual and graphical material. (Keele University)

Because software can change, users should confirm the functions of the current version directly with Agape rather than assuming every original feature remains unchanged.

How the Agape Push Pull App can help

It organizes the establishment process

Push–pull should ideally be planned before the maize or sorghum field has become a pest emergency.

A guide that remains on the farmer’s phone can help the user review the system while planning the plot, sourcing companion-plant seed and establishing the field.

This is especially useful when a farmer attended training several weeks earlier. Human memory is excellent at remembering who failed to contribute at a wedding meeting, but it can become strangely uncertain about crop spacing.

It makes technical guidance easier to revisit

A farmer may understand instructions during a demonstration but encounter questions later:

Is the field border complete?
Did the companion crop establish evenly?
Has weeding damaged the intercrop?
Is the observed symptom really Striga or another weed?
Should a failed section be replanted?

The app provides a reference point, while Agape’s technical team or another qualified extension professional can address questions requiring field-specific diagnosis.

It can support farmer groups and trainers

The app may be valuable to:

Maize and sorghum farmers
Farmer cooperatives
Extension workers
Agricultural schools
Demonstration farms
NGOs supporting cereal producers
Agroecology programmes
Livestock farmers interested in integrated cereal-and-fodder systems
Lead farmers training neighbouring households

A trainer can use the digital guidance during a field demonstration, then encourage participating farmers to retain the information on their own phones.

However, an app should complement practical training—not replace every field visit. A photograph cannot always reveal soil conditions, poor germination, incorrect planting material or a wrongly identified pest.

Use the app responsibly

Before establishing a push–pull plot, confirm:

Whether the system is suitable for the intended cereal crop
Which “push” and “pull” species are currently recommended
Where genuine planting material can be obtained
The correct field layout and spacing
The suitable planting sequence and timing
Water and soil requirements of the companion crops
Weed-management procedures
Whether the surrounding land can accommodate the border crop
How the companion plants will be managed after harvest
What additional action is needed if pest pressure remains high

Do not copy an arrangement from an online photograph without understanding its scale. A field may look simple on a phone screen while containing several carefully measured rows.

Farmers should also follow current national crop-protection guidance and use only legally permitted products where an additional intervention is required.

What the app cannot do

The Agape Push Pull App cannot independently correct:

Poor-quality maize or sorghum seed
Late planting
Severe drought or waterlogging
Inadequate soil fertility
Soil acidity
Incorrect companion-plant seed
Bad field layout
Livestock entering the plot
Neglected weeding
Diseases unrelated to the target system
Failure to inspect the crop
Advice that was read but never implemented

Installing the app is not the same as establishing push–pull. A phone can carry instructions, but it has not yet learned to hold a hoe.

A practical way to begin

Rather than converting a large farm immediately, a farmer can discuss starting with a properly planned demonstration plot.

Record:

Where possible, compare the demonstration with a nearby field managed under the farmer’s normal practice. Keep the main crop, planting date and basic management reasonably comparable so that observations are meaningful.

Do not change the seed variety, fertilizer programme, planting date, field location and pest-management system all at once, then give the app full credit or full blame. That is not a comparison; it is a family meeting attended by too many variables.

Put useful knowledge where the farmer can reach it

Push–pull depends on biological relationships, but successful adoption also depends on understandable instructions.

The Agape Push Pull App gives maize and sorghum farmers a digital route into this farming system. Its greatest value comes when the guidance is combined with authentic planting material, correct establishment, field observation and access to qualified support.

Visit Agape’s official apps page and contact the company to confirm the latest official version, current installation procedure and any available technical guidance. Avoid downloading installation files forwarded through unverified WhatsApp groups.

Agape Innovations Limited
Call/WhatsApp 0771830747 / 0709717844

The pest may arrive without reading the farming calendar—but with the right system, the farmer does not have to meet it unprepared.