Insecticidal Activities of Some Plant Materials and Permethrin against Sitophilus zeamais Attacking Maize Grains in Storage

Greener Trends in Plant Pathology and Entomology

Vol. 2(2), pp. 29-37, 2019

ISSN: 2672-4510

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.15580/GTPPE.2019.2.070519128

https://gjournals.org/GTPPE

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Insecticidal Activities of Some Plant Materials and Permethrin against Sitophilus zeamais Attacking Maize Grains in Storage

^*Emeasor, KC; Oguh, UA

Department of Plant Health Management, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, P.M.B. 7267 Umuahia, Abia State Nigeria.

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article No.: 070519128

Type: Research

DOI: 10.15580/GTPPE.2019.2.070519128

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.

Submitted: 05/07/2019

Accepted: 30/07/2019

Published: 25/09/2019

*Corresponding Author

Emeasor, KC

E-mail: kingsleychidiemeasor@ yahoo.com

Keywords: Plant extracts; Insecticides; Sitophilus zeamais Control; Maize

Peer Review Link: https://gjournals.org/GTPPE/peer-review/2019/070519128.pdf

INTRODUCTION

Maize (Zea mays L.) belongs to the family Poaceae and is one of the most valued cereal crops in the world. In Nigeria, it occupies the second position next to rice with an estimated annual production of 5.4 million metric tons from about 3.5 milliion hectares (FAO, 2004; Asawalam and Adesiyan, 2001; IITA, 2019). In Africa, maize provides the staple food for human and major component of livestock feeds (Agboola and Fayemi, 1999). It can be boiled fresh or dry and eaten alone or with other food items such as pea, coconut and groundnut. It can be processed into starch or cooked with porridge, fried into popcorn or milled into flour and used for delicacies as pap or Agidi (Elegbede, 1998; Agboola and Fayemi, 1999). However, the availability of maize is often hindered by infestation of insect pests attack in the field and in storage (Muyinza, 1998), which constitutes a major setback in the production and storage of maize. The most predominant and destructive pest of stored maize grains is the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) (Holst et al., 2000; Adedire, 2001). The huge post-harvest losses and quality deterioration caused by this pest is a major obstacle to achieving food security. Its infestation causes severe post-harvest losses of staple crops in Nigeria leading to major economic losses (Oni and Ileke, 2008). World post-harvest losses for all grains have been estimated at about 10% of the annual production, which in quantitative terms is over 100 million tons (FAO, 2010). In Nigeria, it has also been shown that the presence of Sitophilus zeamais in maize grains harvested led to a reduction in both weight and germination capacity of the grain (Ukeh et al., 2008). The destructive activities of insects and other storage pests have been adequately subdued by chemical control methods comprising fumigation of stored commodity with carbon disulphide, phosphine or dusting with malathion, carbaryl, primiphos methyl or permethrin. These chemicals have been reported to be effective against stored product pests (Ogunwolu and Idowu, 1994; Ogunleye, 2003). Many problems are associated with the use of synthetic insecticides which include high persistence, pest resurgence, genetic resistance by the insects and lethal effects on non-target organisms in addition to direct toxicity to users due to poor knowledge of application (Akinkurolere et al., 2006). However, there is an increase in the use of plant materials as a cheaper, biodegradable and ecologically safer means of controlling insect pest infestation of stored cereal and grains especially in the tropics (Shiberu, 2013).

The objective of this research was to evaluate the insecticidal activities of some plant materials and to compare the effect of the plant materials with synthetic insecticide and clay for the control of Sitophilus zeamais.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Source of Materials

The food medium (healthy and whole un-infested dry maize seeds) used for the insect culture as well as the experiment were purchased from a local market at Obizi, Ezinihite Mbaise, Imo state and were taken to the laboratory in the Department of Plant Health Management, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike.

Preparation of Insect Culture Medium

Culture of the test insect, adult Sitophilus zeamais was maintained in the laboratory at an ambient temperature of 28 +2⁰C and relative humidity of 75+5%. The infested grains and weevils were placed in a 4 litre plastic bucket and allowed to mate and reproduce during a period of 5 weeks. The plastic bucket had its cover drilled with holes and covered with nylon muslin cloth and held tightly with banding wire to prevent escape of the insects.

Preparation of Plant extracts and Experimental Design

The leaves of Alchornea cordifolia and Moringa oleifera chosen based on their etno medical properties were obtained from the university environment while the clay and permethrin were bought from an agro-chemical shop in Umuahia. The leaves were spread on the laboratory bench and air-dried in a well-ventilated place for 14 days. Thereafter, the plant materials were milled with a milling machine and later sieved to obtain a fine uniform powder. The plant powders were kept in an air tight container and preserved in the refrigerator to maintain their efficacy (Okonkwo and Okoye, 1996). The treatments in (Table 1) are two plant materials. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replicates.

Table 1: Plants evaluated for insecticidal properties

Scientific Name Common name Family Part used

Alchornea cordifolia Christmas bush tree Euphorbiaceae Leaves

Moringa oleifera Moringa (Drumstick tree) Moringaceae Leaves

Layout of the experiment

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0gm

Alchornea cordifolia

Moringa oleifera

Clay

Permethrin

Table 2: Percentage mortality of Sitophilus zeamais exposed to maize grains treated with plant extracts, clay and Permethrin at 7 days after treatment.

Treatment	Dosage (g)/50g of maize grains
Treatment	0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 Mean
Alchornea cordifolia	0.00	0.00	26.70	40.00	50.00	23.33
Clay	0.00	56.70	60.00	100.00	100.00	63.33
Moringa oleifera	0.00	0.00	20.00	56.70	43.30	24.00
Permethrin	0.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	80.00
Mean	0.00	39.17	51.67	74.17	73.33
LSD (0.05) for dosage LSD (0.05 for plant) material LSD (0.05) for interaction	2.625 2.348 5.25	(P≤0.001) (P≤0.001) (P≤0.001)

Table 3: Percentage mortality of Sitophilus zeamais exposed to maize grains treated with plant extracts, clay and Permethrin at 14 days after treatment.

Treatment	Dosage (g)/50g of maize grains
Treatment	0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 Mean
Alchornea cordifolia	0.00	26.07	36.67	56.67	60.00	36.00
Clay	0.00	56.67	60.00	100.00	100.00	63.33
Moringa oleifera	0.00	16.67	26.67	43.33	43.30	26.00
Permethrin	0.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	80.00
Mean	0.00	50.00	55.83	75.00	75.83
LSD (0.05) for dosage LSD (0.05 for plant) material LSD (0.05) for interaction	2.58 2.31 5.16	(P≤0.001) (P≤0.001) (P≤0.001)

Table 4: Percentage mortality of Sitophilus zeamais exposed to maize grains treated with plant extracts, clay and Permethrin at 21 days after treatment.

Treatment	Dosage (g)/50g of maize grains
Treatment	0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 Mean
Alchornea cordifolia	16.67	36.67	56.67	63.33	63.33	47..33
Clay	13.32	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	82.67
Moringa oleifera	16.67	26.67	36.67	43.33	56.67	36.00
Permethrin	13.33	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	82.67
Mean	15.00	85.83	73.33	76.67	80.00
LSD (0.05) for dosage LSD (0.05 for plant) material LSD (0.05) for interaction	3.488 3.119 6.975	(P≤0.001) (P≤0.001) (P≤0.001)

Table 5: Percentage mortality of Sitophilus zeamais exposed to maize grains treated with plant extracts, clay and Permethrin at 28 days after treatment.

Treatment	Dosage (g)/50g of maize grains
Treatment	0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 Mean
Alchornea cordifolia	26.70	43.30	63.30	63.33	63.33	52.00
Clay	26.70	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	85.33
Moringa oleifera	26.70	36.70	43.30	56..70	56.70	44.00
Permethrin	26.70	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	85.33
Mean	26.70	70.00	76.67	80.00	80.00
LSD (0.05) for dosage LSD (0.05 for plant) material LSD (0.05) for interaction	3.736 3.342 7.473	(P≤0.001) (P≤0.001) (P≤0.001)

Table 6: Percentage mortality of Sitophilus zeamais exposed to maize grains treated with plant extracts, clay and Permethrin at 35 days after treatment.

Treatment	Dosage (g)/50g of maize grains
Treatment	0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 Mean
Alchornea cordifolia	30.00	50.00	63.30	66.70	70.00	52.00
Clay	30.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	85.33
Moringa oleifera	30.00	43.00	56.70	56..70	66.70	44.00
Permethrin	30.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	85.33
Mean	30.00	73.33	80.00	80.83	84.17
LSD (0.05) for dosage LSD (0.05 for plant) material LSD (0.05) for interaction	2.636 2.358 5.273	(P≤0.001) (P≤0.001) (P≤0.001)

Table 7: Effects of plant extracts, clay and Permethrin on the emergence count of Sitophiluszeamais at 42 days after treatment.

Treatment	Dosage (g)/50g of maize grains
Treatment	0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 Mean
Alchornea cordifolia	76.70	33.30	30.00	23.30	13.30	35.32
Clay	76.70	20.00	13.00	10.00	0.00	24.00
Moringa oleifera	76.70	36.70	33.30	30.00	30.00	41.30
Permethrin	76.70	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	15.34
Mean	76.70	33.33	30.30	23.30	13.30
LSD (0.05) for dosage LSD (0.05 for plant) material LSD (0.05) for interaction	2.927 2.618 5.854	(P≤0.001) (P≤0.001) (P≤0.001)

Table 8: Effects of plant extracts, clay and Permethrin on the percentage grain weight loss due to attack by Sitophilus zeamais at 42 days after treatment.

Treatment	Dosage (g)/50g of maize grains
Treatment	0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 Mean
Alchornea cordifolia	78.00	42.70	42.70	24.00	15.30	40.53
Clay	78.00	15.30	0.00	0.00	0.00	18.67
Moringa oleifera	78.00	52.00	54.00	26.70	26.70	50.00
Permethrin	78.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	15.60
Mean	78.00	27.50	24.20	16.80	10.50
LSD (0.05) for dosage LSD (0.05 for plant) material LSD (0.05) for interaction	1.10 0.99 2.21	(P≤0.001) (P≤0.001) (P≤0.001)

Table 9: Effects of plant extracts, clay and Permethrin on the percentage viability of stored maize grains.

Treatment	Dosage (g)/50g of maize grains
Treatment	0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 Mean
Alchornea cordifolia	20.00	50.70	50.00	60.00	70.00	50.00
Clay	20.00	80.00	80.00	83.30	90.00	70.67
Moringa oleifera	20.00	43.30	50.00	50.00	60.00	44.67
Permethrin	20.00	80.00	80.00	90.00	90.00	72.00
Mean	20.00	63.33	65.00	70.83	77.50
LSD (0.05) for dosage LSD (0.05 for plant) material LSD (0.05) for interaction	1.529 1.367 3.057	(P≤0.001) (P≤0.001) (P≤0.001)

DISCUSSION

The use of plant extracts for the protection of crops from insect pests have been reported as one of the oldest crop protection methods (Statista, 2018). The findings of this study revealed that treatment and time of application had significant effects on the relative abundance of Sitophilus zeamays affecting maize. The results indicated that application of clay and Permethrin significantly reduced the population and damage caused by the maize storage weevil. Plant materials applied also competed favourably with the synthetic and clay as this is in concordance with Adesina (2013) who reported that the practice of using plant materials, clay and synthetic has been suggested as means of controlling stored product pests. It can be deduced from this study that powders of A. cordifolia leaves caused adult mortality of the weevils. This attested to the findings of Koomson et al. (2016) who reported the efficacy on mortality of adult S. zeamais. The least mortality effects observed in M. oleifera was in agreement with Ileke and Oni (2011) who reported that among the plants powders used on maize weevil, M. oleifera recorded the least mortality. The trend resulted in high mortality with higher doses of the treatments providing greater protection The observation confirm the views of Fluid and Biggs (2003) and Muiungu et al., (2007) who separately found plant substances to have high toxic effect on feeding and survival of different pest species. The ability of the plant powders to bring about significant (P<0.05) insect mortality indicated the powder to have contact toxicity. The suppression effects of the treatment conforms with Ukeh et al., (2008) and Tapondjou et al. (1994) who reported that reproductive inhibition could be due to powders possessing toxic effects on the larvae hatching from eggs laid on grains and subsequently resulting in reduced progeny emergence. The high mortality effect of powders could be due to inability of the insects to feed on the maize grains that have been dusted with powders thereby leading to their starvation (White, 1995). This suggests that the plant has anti-feedant properties (Zar, 1999). This also implies that the plant powders may have disrupted the normal respiratory activities of these insects leading to asphyxiation and subsequent death. The application of Permethrin and clay aided in reducing weight loss as well as the use of plant powders which competed favourably in preventing weight loss. This may be due to the inability of the larvae of the weevils to feed on the treated grains. This finding agrees with similar observations as reported by Obenge et al. (1991) and Oigiangbe et al. (2010).The effectiveness of Permethrin compared to other plant extracts could be associated with its standardized active ingredient formulations that have “knockdown effects” on pest on immediate exposure. However, the moderate efficacy of plant extracts could be as a result of the absence of knockdown effect and rapid breakdown (non-persistence). The plant materials reduced population of insects mainly due to contact toxicity and action upon the nervous system of the insects.

Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that concerted efforts should be made towards the enhancement of extraction and formulation of the active ingredients of the botanicals at the best dosage in order to release the active constituents. It is recommended that Alchornea cordifolia and Moringa oleifera be adopted for the control of maize storage weevil.

CONCLUSION

It is therefore concluded from this study that leaf extracts of A. cordifolia and M. oleifera reduced the population and damage caused by the maize storage weevil, S. zeamais. Application was done on 50g maize at different time intervals. These plant extracts are suitable alternatives to Permethrin for the control of maize storage weevil. A. cordifolia and M. oleifera demonstrated insecticidal activity and are therefore recommended especially for the control of S. zeamais. Application of these plant extracts should be at the rate of 4g/50g, 6g/50g and 8g/50g maize grains for effective insecticidal activity.

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