INTRODUCTION:

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most widely grown crops in India after wheat and rice, but its yield is low due to various biotic and abiotic factors. The damage caused by insects to stored products varies between 5-10% in temperate regions of the world and 10-30% in tropical regions¹⁰. Among the pests, Sitophilus oryzae L. (Coleoptera: Driophthoridae) is an important pest of corn stored especially in tropical regions and causes great losses due to its growth ability. Weevil infestation caused 53.30% damage and 14% weight loss in maize grains over a four-month storage period⁸^,⁷ reported that neem and vitex leaves could inhibit the population of rice mites, Tribolium castaneum and Corcyra cephalonica in stored maize. Synthetic pesticides are effective in controlling pests, but their repeated use may cause loss of protection and environmental pollution³.

Plant materials are easily biodegradable, pollute the environment less and are rich in bioactive compounds^12. A. Phytochemical analysis of Neem or neem represents limonoids, flavonoids, phenols, gallic acid, polyphenols and azadirachtin. This plant has received much attention due to its medicinal properties such as anti-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety and anti-inflammatory¹³. This may be due to the dangers of herbal pesticides, such as odor, poor marketing, and discoloration when applied directly to grain. In light of the above, this study investigated a new method of using botanicals, such as two-layer bags treated with T. cordifolia, to protect stored corn from S. oryzae.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

The experiments were carried out at the PG Department of Botany, Jai Prakash University, Chapra. S. oryzae culture was carried out in the laboratory on whole corn grains in 1liter capacity plastic containers at 26±2°C and 65±5% relative humidity. Fresh leaves of A. indica were collected locally, dried in the shade for five days, and then ground into fine powder in a grinder. Leaf pastes with different concentrations of 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2% were prepared from 10, 20, 30 and 40g of plant powder, respectively. Mix flour with 10 grams of starch and 100ml of water, make a paste and spread it outside the bag. Leave the bag in the room to dry for 24 hours. Dissolve 10g of wood powder in 100ml of acetone and leave for 24hours. The solution was then added and filtered from filter paper and concentrated to 10ml by evaporation of the solvent. Prepare 60ml of this solution 2.0% v/v spray and spray one layer of the bag.

Storage material is sacks with dimensions of 40cm x 32cm. Fill the treated bag with 2kg of corn grain and place it in a second bag of the same size. Place 10 male and 10 female adult worms in each test bag and tie them tightly with string. Untreated double- and single-layer bags were constructed in the same manner but were not treated with implants. The experiment adopted a randomized design and was repeated three times and seven times. Different treatments applied to a layer containing leaves were 1.0% (T1), 1.5% (T2); -layer bag and non-fixed double layer bag. All these bags are kept in the laboratory for up to 5 months to check the levels of protection against weevils and crop loss and to check the number of offspring, number of damaged rice and crop loss due to cavities, feed quantity. is calculated as food. The formula described by^6.

Percent weight loss=[Wu×Nd)-(Wd×Nu)]/[Wu×(Nd+Nu)]×100;

Where

Wu=Weight of undamaged grains; Wd=weight of damaged grains; Nu=number of undamaged grains and Nd=number of damaged grains.

% grain damage=W (Number of damaged grains/Total number of grains)×100

The data collected were subjected to Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and was performed with SAS 9.3 version by using general linear model (GLM). Data on percent grain damage, weight loss was transformed with angular function to correct for heterogeneity of treatment variances (Gomez and Gomez, 1984) before being subjected to ANOVA. The transformed means were separated by Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at 5% level of probability.

RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS:

Figure 1 shows the results of the average incidence of S. oryzae F1 strain in stored maize after 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 days of treatment. Two bags treated with indica leaf paste reduced the incidence in adults throughout the study. There was no significant difference in the incidence of F1 offspring of all treatments 30 days after treatment. Adult survival was lowest in two-layer bags treated with A. indica leaf paste, followed by single-layered bags followed 60 days after 60 days of treatment.

Figure 1: Population of S. oryzae in maize grain stored at different treatments

The total content of adults from two bags treated with A. indica leaf paste at 2% by weight recorded the lowest F1 population at 24.7; followed by 86.2 lice populations with 25.7, 25.8, 28.1 with 1.5%, 1.0% and 0.5%, while acetonic leaf extract with 2% exhibited 86.25 weevil production. Maximum weevil emergence was observed in untreated double and single layered bags (97.2, 129.7), respectively and they were significantly different compared to all the other treatments.

Table 1:Percent grain damage and weight loss by Sitrophilus oryzae to maize grain stored at various treatments.

Treatments	Percent grain damage		Percent weight loss
	After 90 days	After 150 days	After 90 days	After 150 days
T1	5.0±1.9^c	9.33±0.68	1.04±0.66^ab	1.71±0.92^b
T2	4.33±0.88^c	6.66±0.38	0.89±0.898	1.50±1.17^b
T3	3.66±0.3^c	5.60±1.38	0.81±1.548	0.96±1.32^b
T4	3.00±0.5^c	5.30±0.68	0.87±1.888	0.92±1.39^b
T5	13.00±0.58	24±2.0^a	1.82 ± 1.43^ab	3.89±0.52^a
T6	15.33±0.38	25.33±1.6^a	2.39±1.73^ab	4.50±0.72^a
T7	22.00±1.1^a	28.00±2.0^a	3.17±0.98^a	5.41±0.58^a

Table 1 showed the percent grain damage and weight loss of maize kernels across different treatments over five months storage period. The percent grain damage was significantly high in maize stored in untreated double (15.33, 25.30) and single layered bags (22.0, 28.0) after 90 and 150days of storage, respectively. The minimum damage of 3.0% to 5.3% was observed in double layered gunny bag treated with A. indica leaf paste with 2% w/w after 90 and 150 days of storage, respectively. At 90 days after storage, double layered gunny bags treated with A. indica leaf paste with 1.5%, 1.0%, 0.5% showed percent damage of 3.66, 4.30, 5.0 while it was 5.60%, 6.60%, 9.33% after 150 days of storage, respectively. Single layered bag treated with acetonic leaf extract of A. indica with 2.0% v/v recorded 13.0 and 24.0% grain damage after 90 and 150 days of storage.

Similar to percent grain damage, the percent weight loss produced as a result of weevil feeding activity was significantly higher in untreated double (2.39, 4.50) and single (3.17, 5.41) layered bags after 90 and 150 days of storage, respectively. The maximum protection against S. oryzae was observed in double layered gunny bag treated with A. indica leaf paste with 2% which recorded minimum percent weight loss of 0.87, 0.92 after 90 and 150 days of storage. Double layered gunny bags treated with 1.5%, 1.0%, 0.5% A. indica leaf paste showed 0.81, 0.89 and 1.04% weight loss after 90 days of storage while it was observed as 0.96%, 1.5% and 1.7% after 150 days of storage whereas acetonic leaf extract exhibited reported 1.82% and 3.89% with survival with 5% concentration.

DISCUSSION:

Two-layer bags treated with Azardica indica leaf paste reduced the seedling emergence rate and grain loss rate of the F1 generation. This is the first report on the biological activity of A. indica on S. oryzae. The results of this study are consistent with many researchers investigating the effectiveness of botanicals against Sitophilus oryzae in stored corn. A similar study was conducted by¹⁴ reported that when a combination of dried basil (sweet basil) and citronella (lemon balm) leaves was used to make a water-based paste on the layers of the bag, one dose of two sets were more effective than no use of two bags of 1% w/w (herbal powder/granules). The presence of active ingredients such as flavonoids² has been reported to have insecticidal activity against Sitophilus sp. Similarly, Gomah⁴ showed that prenylated flavonoids isolated from Tephrosia apollinea L. have toxic and antibacterial properties against S. oryzae. It has also been reported that flavonoids found in plants act as antibacterial, insecticidal, antibacterial and antifungal agents^11.

The paste of dry leaf is used across the two layers of the bag, a concentrate barrier is created that reduces insect reproduction. Since the test bags are stored in the warehouse, maize stored outside may be infected with maggots. However, due to the function of the leaves, the entry of external pests is prevented. Additionally, wolves have a hard time getting into either bag. Additionally, the two bags do not allow air in and control the moisture content of the rice. Therefore, the slow growth of worms in two treatment bags will be sufficient to control the disease for less than five months.⁹ reported that strawberry seed application in steel containers with flag sugar rhizomes recorded the lowest seed yield (32.00%) and number of adult S. oryzae (5.11).

An untreated relative bag collected most of the worms due to increased moisture content of the crop due to external pores and support aeration layer^1. This creates a suitable environment for insects to breed. If the two bags are not sprayed, the number of worms and weight loss are less compared to the single-layer bag, since the worms cannot enter the two bags from the outside. However, all treatments showed a sudden decrease in insect numbers after four months, probably due to high temperature in April.

The ingredients of A. indica are cost-effective for small farmers because it is easily available in nature and can keep rice pest-free for five months. In this way, there is no direct contact between the rice and the plant, making it more efficient than farmers' current method of mixing rice with produce, which uses pesticides. Based on these results, potential insecticides can be produced from A. indica for the control of S. oryzae in stored maize.

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Received on 20.03.2024 Modified on 18.04.2024

Research J. Science and Tech. 2024; 16(2):125-128.

DOI: 10.52711/2349-2988.2024.00019