EFFICACY OF SLOW-RELEASE ESSENTIAL OIL PELLETS ON THE PRE-OVIPOSITION BEHAVIOR OF CALLOSOBRUCHUS MACULATUS WITHIN CONTROLLED FUMIGANT CHAMBERS IN LAFIA, NIGERIA

NJE Vol. 41(2): 1-15, 2025

DOI.10.36108/NJE/5202/14.0210

 Folorunso A. Ajayi^1,2, Isaac M. Ogara², Emmanuel A. Kayode ¹, Shehu A. Rahman¹, Anayo C. Etonihu³, Olobayo O. Kunle⁴, Samson O. Okunade⁵, Kafayat O. Ajelara⁶, Eunice A. Adgidzi², Akindele O. Ogunfunmilayo⁷, James Y. Oyeniyi⁸ and Shehu A. Dattijo⁹

¹Faculty of Agriculture, Federal University of Lafia, P.M.B. 146. Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
²Faculty of Agriculture, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, P.M.B. 135, Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
³Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
⁴National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Development, Abuja, FCT, Nigeria.
⁵Nigeria Stored Product Research Institute, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.
⁶Department of Zoology and Environmental Biology, Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁷Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, Ibadan Office, Ibadan, Nigeria.
⁸Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Nigeria.
⁹Department of Pest Management Technology, Audu Bako College of Agriculture Dambatta, Kano State

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of slow-release pelletized edible essential oils clove (Syzygium aromaticum), West African black pepper (Piper guineense), and ginger (Zingiber officinale) alongside a synthetic insecticide (Coopex^® Dust) against Callosobruchus maculatus, a major pest of stored cowpea seeds. The experiment, conducted under controlled laboratory conditions (fumigant chamber) at the Federal University of Lafia, used a pre-oviposition bioassay with doses of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 g per 50 g seeds, plus a control. Storage devices tested included polypropylene sacks, clay pots, jerry cans, and galvanized tins in a 4×5×4 factorial design, completely randomized with three replications. Data were transformed and analyzed using Statistix 10. Significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) occurred in egg deposition: Where control treatment of ginger at 0.0 g recorded the highest egg count (535.00), followed by clove SRPEEO control treatment (527.92) at 0.0 g, while ginger-treated seeds at 1.0 g had the lowest (393.50). The highest adult mortality rate was observed with cowpea seeds treated with ginger (0.1 %) at 1.0 g, while the lowest mortality (0.01 %) was observed in seed treated with ginger at 0.0 g. Significant difference was seen in the interactive effect on storage devices and treatments where, Cowpea stored in PS and treated with Coopex had the highest percentage of insect emergence (68.41 %) while cowpea stored in GT treated ginger has the lowest adult emergence (47.65 %). The findings of this study underscore the potential of integrating botanical essential oils with hermetic storage technologies as an eco-friendly, cost-effective alternative to synthetic pesticides for sustainable cowpea storage.

 Keywords: Storage devices, slow-release pelletized edible essential oils, clove, ginger, West African black pepper, Coopex® dust, Fumigant chambe

 

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