Insecticidal Activities of Some Plant Materials and Permethrin against Sitophilus zeamais Attacking Maize Grains in Storage
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: A laboratory experiment was conducted in the Michael Okpara University laboratory Umudike under an ambient temperature and relative humidity of 28+20C and 75+5% RH to evaluate the potency of two plant powders, clay and Permethrin for the control of maize storage weevil (Sitophilus zeamais). The extracts tested were obtained from leaves of Moringa oleifera and Alchornea cordifolia. The experiment was a Completely Randomized Design. Powders obtained from air dried leaves were tested at 0.0g, 2.0g, 4.0g, 6.0g and 8.0g w/w concentrations. Parameters assessed were effects of plant materials clay and Permethrin on weevil mortality, emergence count, Percentage grain weight loss and percentage germination of seeds after storage. Results showed that the 6.0g and 8.0g powders significantly (P<0.05) increased weevil cumulative mortality and suppressed emergence compared to other dosages and control. The study also revealed that protection on grains against weevil attack was dosage-dependent as higher doses gave high resistance to weevil attack. Alchornea cordifolia performed better than Moringa oleifera among the plant extracts tested as it competed favourably with Permethrin and clay. Seed viability test showed that powder treatments had no deleterious effects on the germination potential of treated grains. The implication of this result is that A. cordifolia and M. oleifera can be used for the control of S. zeamais attacking maize during storage. Higher dosages of 4g/50g, 60g/50g and 8g/50g maize grains are recommended for effective insecticidal activity.
Authors: KC Emeasor, UA Oguh
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409789317