Chemical composition and toxicity of some Agro waste-derived insecticides against Angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga ceralella (Olivier) [Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae] infesting stored paddy grains

Abstract

Abstract Background Agriculture being one of the major practices in the world has contributed to environmental pollution, especially in developing countries where there were no equipment to recycle the agricultural wastes. Considering the high level of infestation of paddy by Sitotroga cerealella and the high level of pollution caused by agricultural wastes, this research investigated the chemical composition and toxicity of agro wastes (rice husk, maize cob, groundnut and cowpea pods) as eco-friendly protectants of paddy against Sitotroga cerealella. Parameters assessed include adult mortality, oviposition, adult emergence and egg hatchability. Gas chromatography and mass spectrophotometry were used to isolate and characterize the active compounds present in the most effective crude extract. Results The results of the study revealed that all agricultural wastes showed high mortality effect on S. cerealella. Cowpea pod powder was the most toxic to adult paddy moth that caused 33.33%, 36.67%, 46.67%, 50% and 60% mortality of S. cerealella at concentrations 0.1 g, 0.2 g, 0.3 g, 0.4 g and 0.5 g/20 g of paddy grains after 24 h of exposure, respectively. The Cowpea pod, groundnut pod and maize cob extracts caused 100% mortality of S. cerealella at concentration 0.5 ml/20 g of paddy grains after 96 h of exposure, respectively. The lethal concentrations LC50 and LC90 of cowpea pod after 24 h were 0.16 and 0.64 ml which were the lowest of all agro waste extract tested. GC–MS analysis revealed that 19 chemical compounds were present in cowpea pod extract, 9, 12-Octadecadienoic acid (a methyl ester) has the highest percentage total of 39.57% and 4-Pentenal, 2-methylene (0.12%) has the least percentage total. Conclusion All the observations revealed that cowpea pod was the most effective. The findings also suggested that the selected agricultural wastes have a promising insecticidal potential and can be used as alternatives to synthetic chemical insecticides for the control of stored product insects.