PLANT CELL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy as around 54% of its total population is dependent on agriculture and its related activities. India is the second largest producer of two major cereal crops: Rice and Wheat after China. In general, storage pests are responsible for 10-15 per cent of losses in crop produce but if these pests are kept unchecked, then they can cause 50 per cent crop damage within a period of 6 months.  Tribolium castaneum is one of the major pests of stored grains. Environment friendly solutions for protecting stored grains have been advocated. The present investigations were carried out to evaluate the efficacy of botanicals: Ricinus communis leaf extract, Citrus reticulate peel extract, Eucalyptus globulus leaf extract and Mentha longifolia leaf extract against this pest. The adult mortality of Tribolium castaneum was directly proportional to tested concentrations of four extracts but independent of exposure period except in Mentha longifolia where toxicity increased with an increase in exposure time. Ricinus communis leaf extract was found to be superior among all treatments over an exposure period of 7 days (90.9% mortality at 10% concentration and 45.5% at 2.5%, respectively). Ricinus communis extract could be used safely and effectively for controlling Tribolium castaneum. Citrus reticulate extract also had a significant insecticidal activity. Due to cheap and easy availability of these plants, their extracts or powders can be the promising substitutes of chemical insecticides in pest management programs.