Botanical Pesticide Mixtures for Insect Pest Management on Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp Plants-- The Legume Flower Bud Thrips, Megalurothrips sjostedti Trybom
2006
Oparaeke, A.M. | Dike, M.C. | Amatobi, C.I.
The efficacy of aqueous neem and Eucalyptus leaf extracts in mixtures containing extracts of other plant species was investigated for the management of the legume flower bud thrips, a major post-flowering insect pest of cowpea in the Research Farm of the Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. The extracts mixtures were applied at 10:10% w/v in equal ratio and sprayed four times at weekly intervals. The results showed that thrips pressure on cowpea flowers was significantly (P < 0.05) less (< 1.0/flower) on plants sprayed with leaf extract mixtures of Neem + Eucalyptus, Neem + lemon grass, Neem + bitter leaf, Neem + tomato, and Eucalyptus + African curry (in that order) than on unsprayed plants. These extract mixtures also increased pod density per plant compared with the unsprayed plants in the two years of investigation. The synergistic attributes of some plant extracts in mixtures with those of other plant species could form the basis of biopesticides formulations for resource-limited farmers in low input agriculture in the developing countries.
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