Modesta Ngozi Chukwulobe^1,, Bonaventure Chukwujindu Echezona¹

Musa spp are highly perishable crops with serious storage problems. Transformation to chips and flour has been identified as the only means of keeping them for a relatively longer period of time. This transformation, however, exposes them to attack by many storage pests including Tribolium castaneum Herbst. To get protection from these pests, in the past, synthetic pesticides were used with some measure of success. However, residue accumulation, toxicity to man and pest resistance caused by arbitrary use of synthetic pesticides have inspired this research into a healthy and less toxic alternative control measures for stored produce pests of chips. This experiment was conducted at the Department of Crop Science Research Laboratory, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (06^o 52̍ N, 07^o 24̍ E; 447.26m a.s.l.), Nigeria from February to May, 2012 to compare the efficacy of powdered extracts of two botanical materials (Guinea pepper seeds (Piper giuneense Schum & Thonn) and Cloves flower buds (Eugenia aromatica Baill.) and a synthetic pesticide (Primiphos methyl 2% dust) against the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum Herbst. (Coleoptera Tenebrionidae) on chips of three Musa spp (Agbagba, Obino’l ewai and Cooking banaana). The experiment was laid out as 8 × 3 factorial (8 levels of protectants by 3 levels of chips) in completely randomised design (CRD) with three replications. Results revealed that actellic (Primiphos methyl) had significantly (p < 0.05) higher mortality effect on adult T. castaneum than the other protectants. Chips treated with 2g cloves had significantly (p < 0.05) lower percentage loss and lower rate of damage than all the protectants but its effects was similar to that of actellic. 2g cloves therefore compared favourably with the synthetic pesticides against T. castaneum in chips storage.

Musa chips, powdered plant extracts, synthetic pesticide, protectants, T. castaneum, damage