Field efficacy of neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) for managing soil arthropods and Cercospora leaf pots damage for increased yield in peanut.

2013

English

Cotton is an important fiber crop grown in northern Ghana. Its cultivation is beset with numerous insect pest problems. Current pest management practices in cotton fields are based on the use of chlorpyrifos and lamda cyhalothrin based synthetic insecticides which is unaffordable to most peasant cotton farmers. Hence, this study aimed at assessing the field efficacy of neem based biopesticides like neem seed kernel extract (NSKE) and neem seed oil (NSO) as an alternative for the management of insect pests of cotton in northern Ghana. The treatments were 2% NSO, 5% NSO, 5% NSKE, 10% NSKE, chlorpyrifos alternated with lamda cyhalothrin and untreated control. The results showed that 10% NSKE significantly (P<0.05) reduced the abundance of bollworms, aphids and white flies to 0.75, 3.71 and 3.29 respectively while for the untreated control they were as high as 3.07, 14.14 and 6.75 respectively. The neem was non-toxic to the natural enemies. Seed cotton yield were between 52.20% and 90.82% higher in the neem treated plots than the untreated control while yield loss was 64.79% lower on the 10% NSKE treated plots than the untreated control plots.

Nboyine, J. A.; Abudulai, M.; Opare-Atakora, D. Y.