Eco-friendly management of rice weevil, [(Sitophilus oryzae L.) Coleoptera; Curculionidae] in Rupandehi, Nepal

Abstract

An experiment to manage rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae L. Coleoptera, Curculionidae) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L. Gramineae) was carried out at Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Paklihawa Campus, Nepal. The experiment was conducted under completely randomized design with seven treatments viz. neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) @ 15 g/kg, tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L)@ 10g/kg, ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) @20g/kg, garlic (Allium sativum L.)@20g/kg, sichuwan pepper(Xanthoxylum alatum Roxb.)@10g/kg, sweet flag (Acorus calamus L.) @5g/kg, and control and replicated three times. The highest weevil mortality of weevils was observed in the wheat treated with A. calamus (98.33%,), followed by N. tabacum (85.67%), A. sativum (73.34%), A. indica (70.67%), Z. alatum (70.34%)and Z. officinale (58.34%). Similarly, the lowest percent weight loss (3.32 %) and seed damage (4.0%) was observed in wheat treated with A. calamus. Moreover, germination (89%) was observed in seeds treated with A. calamus when tested after 90 days of treatment application. Based on weevil mortality and germination test in this experiment, it is found that sweet flag is the best treatment against rice weevil followed by tobacco and garlic respectively. Therefore, these botanicals could be one of the effective alternatives for the management of weevil especially to the farmers who do not use chemical insecticides in rural area of Nepal.