Use of Bark and Leaf Extracts of Ficus exasperata L. as an Environmental Friendly Organic Insecticide in the Control of Insects in Eggplant
Alamu L.O.
Citation : Alamu L.O., Use of Bark and Leaf Extracts of Ficus exasperata L. as an Environmental Friendly Organic Insecticide in the Control of Insects in Eggplant International Journal of Forestry and Horticulture 2018, 4(2) : 38-44
Different plant extracts have been tested by different scientists for their insecticidal properties. Some of these plant extracts have been used for bio-control. F. exasperate is among the plant species that has been reported to have ethno-botanical properties. Eggplant is one of the most important vegetables in Asia, where more than 90% of the world's eggplant production occurs. Attempts to control eggplant pests currently entail excessive use of pesticides. Intensive pesticide use in eggplant increases the cost of production and the residues pose serious risks to the health of growers, consumers, and the environment.
This study was carried out on the teaching and research farm, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. The objectives of this present study is to evaluate the potential of F. exasperata parts in controlling insect infestation in eggplants and to identify the part of F. exasperata plant that effectively control insect in eggplants. Materials used include sand, bowl, plants extracts (leaves and bark) and black soap. Application of the treatments to the eggplant was done by using the hand sprayer.
Treatment application was carried out every week. The collected data was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the means separated using 5 % level of significance. The result obtained from this study shows that the application of leaves and bark extracts of F. exasperata was effective in the control of fruit boring
insect when compared with control. Among the applied treatment lambda cyalothrin had the highest insecticidal efficiency. The fruits obtained from the applied extracts had the same significant effect with lambda cyalothrin treated fruit. However, the leaves and bark of F. exasperata compete effectively with lambda cyalothrin in respect to number of leaves and fruit length. Meanwhile, the applied plant extract and lambda cyalothrin did not have positive impact on the plant height an d leaves of the target crop. However,
plants treated with bark of F. exasperata compete effectively with lambda cyalothrin in reference to fruit yield. It was observed that all the plant extracts were effective in the control of insect infestation on eggpl ant while the bark extracts had positive effect on yield. Therefore, the leaves and the bark of F. exasperata can be
used in the management of insect pest infestation of eggplant especially in the organic farming system.