Bioefficacy of Seed Protectants against Rice Weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), on Stored Wheat, Triticum aestivum L. Kumar Rohit, Yadav Surender Singh, Yadav Sunita, Puneet*, Rolania Krishna, Kumar Harish Department of Entomology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004, Haryana *Correspondence : puneet98114@hau.ac.in
Online Published on 14 December, 2023. Abstract Efficacy of seed protectants viz., neem seed kernel powder, neem oil, mustard oil, groundnut oil, turmeric powder, saw dust and custard apple powder was evaluated against rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.) on stored wheat. The outcome of the study showed that the maximum adult mortality (95.6%), lowest grain damage (0.27 and 0.004% on number and weight loss basis, respectively) and maximum germination (86.8%) in stored wheat were recorded when treated with neem seed kernel powder. While, the minimum adult mortality (3.9%), highest grain damage (18.8 and 7.9% on number and weight loss basis, respectively) and minimum germination (73.7%) were recorded in seeds treated with saw dust. It was observed that the seed protectants differed significantly in their effectiveness against S. oryzae. However, neem seed kernel powder, neem oil and custard apple seed powder were found very effective in controlling rice weevils followed by mustard oil, groundnut oil, mustard oil + turmeric powder and groundnut oil + turmeric powder, whereas saw dust was found least effective as seed protectant followed by turmeric powder. It was also observed that there was no negative effect of these seed protectants on the germination of wheat grains up to 60 days after treatment. Top Keywords Triticum aestivum, Sitophilus oryzae, Seed protectants, Storage pest. Top |