Use of Botanicals Plant for Stored Grain Pest Management: A Critical Review

Abstract

The current paper has been studied to understand the significance of various plant products (botanicals) against storage insect pests of seeds and grains. Grain storage is critical in agriculture for the next generation and food security. Insect pests are economically relevant among the several biotic and abiotic elements that impact the fate of grains during storage because they cause significant loss. The expanding demands of the world's growing population can be met by lowering or eradicating the insect pest population while storing. The most damaging storage insect pests are Sitotroga cerealella, Sitophilus sp., Rhyzopertha Dominica, Trogoderma granarium, Tribolium sp., Callosobruchus sp., and others. Insect damage includes the ingestion of seed, exuviae debris, webbing, and cadavers, rendering the grain unfit for human consumption and reducing both quality and quantity. They manipulated the storage environment, resulting in the formation of hotspots that are conducive to the spread of storage fungi and other dangerous microflora. Conventionally, we use synthetic pesticides to manage various insect pests that are hazardous to the environment and ecosystem in a variety of ways, including the elimination of natural enemies, insect resistance and resurgence, making soil, water, and air sick, and having residual effects that cause various disorders or diseases in animals and humans. Botanicals such as neem (Azadirachta indica), Bach (Acorus calamus), phoolakri (Lantana camara), draik (Melia azadarach), kali mirch (Piper nigrum), and basuti (Adhatoda zeylanica) are biodegradable, non-residual, equally effective, and widely available etc. may show to be a superior solution for controlling insect pests, particularly storage pests, without impacting grain or seed quality or harming our ecology or environment. Thus, botanicals can be used alone or in conjunction with IPM to manage insect pests.