Insecticidal activity of essential oils of Chenopodium ambrosioides and Cupressus sempervirens and their binary combinations on Sitophilus zeamais
1 Faculty of Sciences, University of Ngaoundere, Cameroon
2 Faculty of Science, University of Bamenda, Cameroon
3 Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon
4 Institute of Agricultural Research for Development, Nkolbisson-Yaounde, Cameroon
5 Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Cagliari, Italy
Research Article
GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2018, 03(02), 024–034.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gscbps.2018.3.2.0032
Abstract:
Maize is cultivated worldwide and used as food and for fuel production. It is usually attacked and destroyed during storage by Sitophilus zeamais. With inaccessibility to synthetic pesticides, farmers are left with the choice of using locally available plant based pesticides. For this reason, we tested the insecticidal potentials of essential oils (EOs) of Chenopodium ambrosioides and Cupressus sempervirens and their binary combinations against S. zeamais on stored maize. Mortality, progeny inhibition, repellence and damage were tested. Pesticide characteristics of both essential oils were dose-dependent, 200 μL/kg of all the combinations caused at least 80% mortality within 14 days of storage while the 50:50 combination completely inhibited progeny production. Moreover, 8 μL of all the EO were repellent to the weevils. The 50:50 binary combination was the most active in all the tests carried out. Pesticidal interactions between the oils in combination were mostly additive and synergistic. There was also a good control of insect population increase and grain damage after six months of storage. Therefore both EOs can be recommended for the control of S. zeamais.
Keywords:
Botanical pesticides; Essential oil; Grain damage; Maize insect pests
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Copyright © 2018 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0.
