Evaluation of the Efficacy of Plant Materials for the Control of Flea Beetles Podagrica spp on Okra Abelmoschus esculentus L

Abstract

The efficacy of the Senegal prickly-ash Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides (Lam.) roots and the African locust bean tree Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) pod back was study for their efficacy in the control of okra pest, Podagrica spp. The study was carried out in the laboratory and on the field in the farming season of 2018. Z. zanthoxyloides roots were obtained from Jima-Doko forest and P. biglibosa fruit back from Takunpara. Both plant materials were air-dried under shade for 120 hours. Both plant parts were pounded separately in wooden mortar with the aid of wooden pestle until the materials turns to fine particles. Determined weight of 100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 grams were taken for each plant materials and soaked in water for 24 hours and stirred at intervals of an hour. The mixture were then sieved with a muslin cloth and filtered with Whatman filter paper to eliminate all finest particles of varying sizes. These concentrations were applied individually on 10 adults of Podagrica spp. in the laboratory. It was observed that the concentration of 200 – 300g performed better for both plant materials in the control of okra flea beetle. These resulted to the death of above 50% of the insect within 2 hours. These significant laboratory trials were then formulated and taken to the field. Both plant materials acted as anti-feedants and repellants against Podagrica spp. It was also revealed that Z. zanthoxyloides performed significantly (p<0.05) better than the P. biglibosa. Furthermore, short interval applications (<or=3days) of these plant materials could be a good  replacement for synthetic chemicals, hence bio-pesticides that could be adopted for organic agriculture.