Development of water dispersible powder (WDP) formulation for management of snails

The research work was conducted to study the Development of water dispersible powder (WDP) formulation for management of snails, was carried out at Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli, Dist. Ratnagiri, (MS) India during 2023-2024. The study assessed the efficacy of five different WDP formulations against snails under laboratory conditions. The formulations tested included different products developed by using commercial grade five carriers such as barium sulphate, bentonite, fuller’s earth, kaolin and talc; one dispersing agent, naphthalene sulphonate condensate (NSC); one wetting agent, sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS); and an active ingredient, soapnut powder was tried for the WDP formulation. The study on efficacy of WDP test products by using the topical application method found that WDP Product III (Soapnut Powder + SLS + NSC + Fullers earth) was most effective with 88.33 percent mortality and significantly superior to rest of other treatments. While the WDP Product V (Soapnut Powder + SLS + NSC + Talc) was least effective with 50.00 percent mortality and significantly inferior to the rest of the treatments. In case of other WDP formulations, it was concluded that the next best treatments were followed by WDP Product IV (Soapnut Powder + SLS + NSC + Kaolin) gave 85.00 percent mortality, then WDP Product II (Soapnut Powder + SLS + NSC + Bentonite) had 83.33 percent mortality and WDP Product I (Soapnut Powder + SLS + NSC + Barium Sulphate) gave 81.66 percent mortality. All these treatments gave relatively superior results. But the formulation of WDP Product V (Soapnut Powder + SLS + NSC + Talc) gave an inferior result. In the leaf dipping method, the efficacy of WDP test products varies from one product to another. According to data recorded for WDP formulations, it was noted that WDP Product III (Soapnut Powder + SLS + NSC + Fullers earth) with 65.00 percent mortality gave the best results for controlling snails under laboratory conditions. The next best treatments were followed by WDP Product IV (Soapnut Powder + SLS + NSC + Kaoline) with 56.66 percent mortality, WDP Product II (Soapnut Powder + SLS + NSC + Bentonite) with 53.33 percent mortality, WDP Product I (Soapnut Powder + SLS + NSC + Barium Sulphate) had 50.00 percent mortality and WDP Product V (Soapnut Powder + SLS + NSC + Talc) gave 48.33 percent mortality of snails, respectively. The results indicated that the selection of carriers significantly influences the effectiveness of snail control, with fuller's earth, kaoline and bentonite proving to be more effective than barium Sulphate and talc. However, the topical application method is generally superior to the leaf dipping method. This superiority is due to the more targeted and direct body contact, which enhances their effectiveness in controlling snail populations.