Production of cereal crops in sub-Saharan Africa is threatened by parasitic striga weeds and attack by stemborers and the invasive fall armyworm (FAW), compounded by increasing hot and dry conditions. A climate-smart push-pull technology (PPT) significantly reduces effects of these biotic challenges. To improve further resilience of the system to climate change, more adapted and suitable companion plants were identified and integrated in a new version of PPT, termed ‘third generation PPT’. Our study evaluates field performance and farmer opinions of this new version in comparison with the earlier version, climate-smart PPT, and farmers’ own practices of growing maize in controlling stemborers, FAW, and striga weeds. Trials were conducted across five locations in western Kenya for two cropping seasons in the year 2019 following a one-farm one-replicate completely randomized design. We assessed infestation on striga, stemborers, and FAW, and yield performance of the three cropping systems. We also sought the opinions of the hosting farmers through semi-structured questionnaires that were administered through individual interviews. Both PPT plots recorded significantly (P < 0.05) lower striga count, FAW, and stemborer damage, and higher grain yield than in plots that followed farmers’ own practices. There was no statistically significant difference between the two PPT plots except for stemborer damage for which the third generation PPT recorded higher damage than the climate-smart PPT. However, farmers preferred the third generation PPT for important traits possessed by its companion plants which their counterparts in climate-smart PPT are deficient. The cultivar Xaraes was rated as ‘very good’ for resistance to spider mites, biomass yield, and drought tolerance while Desmodium incanum was rated ‘very good’ for seed production and drought tolerance. The third generation PPT is based on companion crops that are more resilient to hot and dry conditions which are increasing rapidly in prevalence with climate change. This version therefore presents a better option to upscale the technology and meet different needs of farmers especially in arid and semi-arid conditions.

撒哈拉以南非洲地区的谷类作物生产受到寄生独脚金杂草、螟虫和入侵秋季粘虫 (FAW) 的威胁，再加上炎热和干旱条件的增加。气候智能型推拉技术 (PPT) 显着降低了这些生物挑战的影响。为了进一步提高系统对气候变化的适应能力，确定了更适应和合适的伴生植物并将其整合到新版本的 PPT 中，称为“第三代 PPT”。我们的研究与早期版本、气候智能型 PPT 以及农民自己种植玉米以控制茎螟、秋粘虫和独脚金杂草的做法相比，评估了新版本的田间表现和农民意见。在一个农场一个重复的完全随机设计之后，于 2019 年在肯尼亚西部的五个地点进行了两个种植季节的试验。我们评估了独脚金、螟虫和秋粘虫的侵染，以及三种种植系统的产量表现。我们还通过个人访谈进行的半结构化问卷调查征求了接待农民的意见。两个 PPT 图均记录显着 (P < 0.05) 独脚金数量、FAW 和螟虫损害较低，粮食产量高于农民自己做法的地块。除了第三代 PPT 记录的比气候智能型 PPT 更高的损害之外，两个 PPT 地块之间没有统计学上的显着差异。然而，农民更喜欢第三代PPT，因为它的伴生植物具有气候智能型PPT所缺乏的重要特征。品种 Xaraes 对红蜘蛛的抗性、生物量产量和耐旱性被评为“非常好”，而Desmodium incanum在种子生产和耐旱性方面被评为“非常好”。第三代 PPT 基于对随着气候变化而迅速增加的炎热和干燥条件更具抵抗力的伴生作物。因此，该版本为升级技术和满足农民的不同需求提供了更好的选择，尤其是在干旱和半干旱条件下。