Effect of Alcoholic Leaves Extract of Moringa oleifera on Indicator of Growth, Development of Population of Callosobruchus maculates

Jasem, T.N., S.A. Khodair and H.A. Al-Shammari. 2024. Effect of Alcoholic Leaves Extract of Moringa oleifera on Indicator of Growth, Development of Population of Callosobruchus maculates. Arab Journal of Plant Protection, 42(1): 128-136. https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-001204 Cowpea is considered one of the important agricultural crops that has both nutritional and economic value. However, this crop can be negatively affected by storage insect pests such as Callosobruchus maculatus, causing a considerable loss in yield and quality. This study was conducted to determine the life time, fertility and life table parameters of the cowpea pest by using an alcoholic extract from Moringa oleifera leaves at different concentrations (1000, 2000 and 3000 ppm). The result obtained showed that the insect pest lowest survival rate was 50% at a concentration of 3000 ppm, compared to 77% for the control. The lowest insect reproductive rate (Ro) was obtained for the treatment with 2000 ppm extract concentration. The lowest egg hatching rate obtained was 80% for the application of 2000 ppm concentration as compared to 88% for the control. Similarly, the sex ratio of male:female was decreased following the use of the three extract concentrations, with highest ratio of 1.49:0.51 for the concentration of 2000 ppm concentration, compared with 1.11:0.89 for the control. Results obtained clearly showed that the pest survival rate, the females ratio and productivity were highly affected by the alcoholic extract treatment causing a decline in the insect pest population. Thus, the alcoholic extract of the Moringa oleifera leaves is an effective pesticide and can be used an eco-friendly method of controlling on C. maculatus population. Keywords: Callosobruchus maculatus, life table, Moringa oleifera, plant extract.