The effect of Neem oil in controlling Khapra beetle Trogoderma granarium (Dermestidae : Coleoptera) and reducing its associated fungal isolates in wheat grains Battol Qasem Kteo1 and Akram Ali Mohammed1

Abstract

The khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium is an important pest of stored wheat worldwide. The current study was carried out to evaluate the lethal and the sublethal three concentrations of neem oil on Tgranarium. We also assessed the effect of neem oil on the growth of fungal species associated with Tgranarium infected wheat grains. The results demonstrate that treating of wheat grains with 5% neem caused the highest mortality of Tgranarium (82.3%). The results were also shown that application of neem oil decreased the percentage of weight loss of wheat grains and the percentage of egg hatching. In addition, the total number of fungal isolates associated with Tgranarium infecting neem-treated wheat grains were 4 fungal isolates, compared to 13 fungal isolates from untreated wheat grains. The results demonstrate that neem oil has potential use as a biological control agents of Tgranarium; however, further studies under commercial storage conditions are required.

pdf