Germination Effect of Slow Release Pelletized Edible Essential Oils on Cowpea Seed Bruchid, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Infesting Some Legume Grains

Abstract

The germinability effect of insecticidal efficacy of three slow release pelletized edible essential oils (SPREEOs) extracted from clove, West African Black pepper, and Ginger on the bean bruchid, Callosobruchus maculatus infesting some legumes (Cowpea, Soya bean, Pigeon pea, Lima bean and Bambara nut) was evaluated in the laboratory at the Faculty of Agriculture (Shabu-Lafia Campus), Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria. Evaluation of the SRPEEOs on germinability tests was carried out as Treatment before and Treatment after Infestations [TBI and TAI], respectively. Treatment consist of using SRPEEOs at the rate of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0 g/5 g legumes with the control (0) and replicated three times and in a complete randomized block design. Data analyses was carried out using Statistix 10 analytical package in a two-way factorial analysis. All data were transformed before analyses. The result of the germinability effect of three SRPEEOs on the legumes showed no adverse effect on germination (12.22 – 83.33%) and differs significantly (P≤0.05) when compared to the control (0.00% - 10.00%) on TAI, while that for TBI was (27.28 – 93.33%) which also differed significantly when compared to the control (0.00% - 21.11%). The SRPEEOs used as Treatment before and treatment after Infestations (TBI & TAI) were observed not to have adverse effect on legume seeds in term of germinability from C. maculatus infestation.