Evaluation of phyto tablet formulation against key insect pests of stored produce under laboratory conditions

Abstract

In the present study, certain plant species like Sweet basil, Ocimum basilicum L., Sweet flag rhizome, Acorus calamus L., Worm wood, Artemisia vulgaris L., Mint Mentha piperita L., and Indian privet, Vitex negundo L. were tested for their insecticidal properties in the formulation of tablets in laboratory conditions against Rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (Linnaeus) and red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, (Herbst). These plant materials were dried under shade and ground into powder and the tablet formulation was synthesised by mixing with rice gruel and carrier materials viz. chalk powder (CP), kitchen ash (KA) and fly ash (FA). Among the combinations of tablets formulated and tested against the S. oryzae, O. basilicum + CP performed better in causing maximum mean mortality of 43.88% which is closely followed by, O. basilicum + KA, A. vulgaris + FA and A. vulgaris + KA with 40.55% mortality each. The least percent mortality was observed with A. calamus + KA, which caused 17.22%. The results shown that a maximum mean mortality of T. castaneum was witnessed in A. vulgaris + CP and A. calamus + FA caused 28.88%, followed by O. basilicum + KA (27.22%). The least percent mortality was found in treatments of M. piperita + FA caused 19.44%. The results of the weight loss by S. oryzae was noticed less in the grains treated with A. vulgaris + KA combination, which caused 10.67% loss, followed by O. basilicum + CP with 11.33% and A. vulgaris + CP and V. negundo + CP with 11.66% each. The results of the weight loss by T. castaneum was obtained less in the treatment with the tablets formulated using A. vulgaris + CP (11.66%) followed by A. vulganis + FA with 13.00% of weight loss, whereas the treatment A. calamus + FA evidenced with 24.66%. Hence, the selected plant materials and carriers formulated as tablets are recommended for the small scale storage of stored products safely from weevil and beetles.