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Extracts from Field Margin Weeds Provide Economically Viable and Environmentally Benign Pest Control Compared to Synthetic Pesticides

Plants with pesticidal properties have been investigated for decades as alternatives to synthetics, but most progress has been shown in the laboratory. Consequently, research on pesticidal plants is failing to address gaps in our knowledge that constrain their uptake. Some of these gaps are their ev...

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Autores principales: Mkenda, Prisila, Mwanauta, Regina, Stevenson, Philip C., Ndakidemi, Patrick, Mtei, Kelvin, Belmain, Steven R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4658159/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26599609
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143530
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author Mkenda, Prisila
Mwanauta, Regina
Stevenson, Philip C.
Ndakidemi, Patrick
Mtei, Kelvin
Belmain, Steven R.
author_facet Mkenda, Prisila
Mwanauta, Regina
Stevenson, Philip C.
Ndakidemi, Patrick
Mtei, Kelvin
Belmain, Steven R.
author_sort Mkenda, Prisila
collection PubMed
description Plants with pesticidal properties have been investigated for decades as alternatives to synthetics, but most progress has been shown in the laboratory. Consequently, research on pesticidal plants is failing to address gaps in our knowledge that constrain their uptake. Some of these gaps are their evaluation of their efficacy under field conditions, their economic viability and impact on beneficial organisms. Extracts made from four abundant weed species found in northern Tanzania, Tithonia diversifolia, Tephrosia vogelii, Vernonia amygdalina and Lippia javanica offered effective control of key pest species on common bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris) that was comparable to the pyrethroid synthetic, Karate. The plant pesticide treatments had significantly lower effects on natural enemies (lady beetles and spiders). Plant pesticide treatments were more cost effective to use than the synthetic pesticide where the marginal rate of return for the synthetic was no different from the untreated control, around 4USD/ha, compared to a rate of return of around 5.50USD/ha for plant pesticide treatments. Chemical analysis confirmed the presence of known insecticidal compounds in water extracts of T. vogelii (the rotenoid deguelin) and T. diversifolia (the sesquiterpene lactone tagitinin A). Sesquiterpene lactones and the saponin vernonioside C were also identified in organic extracts of V. amygdalina but only the saponin was recorded in water extracts which are similar to those used in the field trial. Pesticidal plants were better able to facilitate ecosystem services whilst effectively managing pests. The labour costs of collecting and processing abundant plants near farm land were less than the cost of purchasing synthetic pesticides.
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spelling pubmed-46581592015-12-02 Extracts from Field Margin Weeds Provide Economically Viable and Environmentally Benign Pest Control Compared to Synthetic Pesticides Mkenda, Prisila Mwanauta, Regina Stevenson, Philip C. Ndakidemi, Patrick Mtei, Kelvin Belmain, Steven R. PLoS One Research Article Plants with pesticidal properties have been investigated for decades as alternatives to synthetics, but most progress has been shown in the laboratory. Consequently, research on pesticidal plants is failing to address gaps in our knowledge that constrain their uptake. Some of these gaps are their evaluation of their efficacy under field conditions, their economic viability and impact on beneficial organisms. Extracts made from four abundant weed species found in northern Tanzania, Tithonia diversifolia, Tephrosia vogelii, Vernonia amygdalina and Lippia javanica offered effective control of key pest species on common bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris) that was comparable to the pyrethroid synthetic, Karate. The plant pesticide treatments had significantly lower effects on natural enemies (lady beetles and spiders). Plant pesticide treatments were more cost effective to use than the synthetic pesticide where the marginal rate of return for the synthetic was no different from the untreated control, around 4USD/ha, compared to a rate of return of around 5.50USD/ha for plant pesticide treatments. Chemical analysis confirmed the presence of known insecticidal compounds in water extracts of T. vogelii (the rotenoid deguelin) and T. diversifolia (the sesquiterpene lactone tagitinin A). Sesquiterpene lactones and the saponin vernonioside C were also identified in organic extracts of V. amygdalina but only the saponin was recorded in water extracts which are similar to those used in the field trial. Pesticidal plants were better able to facilitate ecosystem services whilst effectively managing pests. The labour costs of collecting and processing abundant plants near farm land were less than the cost of purchasing synthetic pesticides. Public Library of Science 2015-11-23 /pmc/articles/PMC4658159/ /pubmed/26599609 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143530 Text en © 2015 Mkenda et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Mkenda, Prisila
Mwanauta, Regina
Stevenson, Philip C.
Ndakidemi, Patrick
Mtei, Kelvin
Belmain, Steven R.
Extracts from Field Margin Weeds Provide Economically Viable and Environmentally Benign Pest Control Compared to Synthetic Pesticides
title Extracts from Field Margin Weeds Provide Economically Viable and Environmentally Benign Pest Control Compared to Synthetic Pesticides
title_full Extracts from Field Margin Weeds Provide Economically Viable and Environmentally Benign Pest Control Compared to Synthetic Pesticides
title_fullStr Extracts from Field Margin Weeds Provide Economically Viable and Environmentally Benign Pest Control Compared to Synthetic Pesticides
title_full_unstemmed Extracts from Field Margin Weeds Provide Economically Viable and Environmentally Benign Pest Control Compared to Synthetic Pesticides
title_short Extracts from Field Margin Weeds Provide Economically Viable and Environmentally Benign Pest Control Compared to Synthetic Pesticides
title_sort extracts from field margin weeds provide economically viable and environmentally benign pest control compared to synthetic pesticides
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4658159/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26599609
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143530
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