The propagation and regeneration of

Brassica

species has been successful using seeds and different explants like petioles, cotyledons, stems and shoot tips. Shoot regeneration and rooting of

Brassica species

are successfully obtained from cotyledons and hypocotyl explants. The biological cycle length of

Brassica

species

may either differ slightly or may not differ from one species to another. For instance, the seeds of

Brassica oleracea

take five days to germinate after sowing at 20–25 °C while the seeds of

Brassica campestries

take about three to five days to germinate after sowing at 20–25 °C. The most common insect pests of economic importance to

Brassica oleracea

in African smallholder farmers include

Plutella xylostella

,

Helula undalis

,

Pieris brassicae,

Brevycoryne brassicae

,

Trichoplusia ni

and

Myzus persicae

. Those insect pests infest cabbages at different stages of growth, causing huge damage and resulting into huge yield losses. The African smallholder farmers use cultural and synthetic pesticides to control those insect pests and minimize infestations. The cultural practices are environmental friendly but are ineffective to control the insect pests. Due to ineffectiveness of cultural practices, African smallholder famers use broad-spectrum synthetic pesticides to effectively control the

Brassica species

insect pests. The improper and misuse of synthetic pesticides result into insect pests resistance towards the insecticides applied, environmental pollution and human health threats. Insect pests such as

Plutella xylostella

,

Hellula undalis

,

Brevicoryne brassicae

and

Myzus persicae

have developed resistance to a wide range of pesticides used such as cypermethrin, parathion, decamethrin, quinalphos and lamda-cyhalothrin. Therefore, that calls for search of the alternative products which can effectively be used to control those insect pests in the field.