POTENTIALS OF TOBACCO (Nicotiana tabacum L.) LEAVES POWDER FOR THE CONTROL OF COWPEA BRUCHID (Callosobruchus maculatus L. Walp.) ON STORED COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata L. (Walp.) SEEDS

Abstract

A laboratory study was conducted under the ambient temperatures of between 30-33°C and 60-65% relative humidity to evaluate the efficacy of tobacco leaf powder for the control of C. maculatus on three varieties of stored cowpea namely “Kanannado”, “Bosop”, and “Danlergo”. The study was set-up in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replicates. The treatments consisted of four levels of tobacco leaf powderT (2g). T (4g) and T (6g), and a control (T ). Fifty (50) g of dried cowpea seeds 1 2 3 0 were used in each treatment. Data collected included adult mortality, juvenile mortality and average number of exit holes. All data collected were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and means separated using the Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT). The results obtained from the study showed significant variations in the efficacy of the different levels of tobacco leaf powders tested. It was observed that cowpea treated with 6g of tobacco leaf powder were the best as compared to other treatment levels. Parameters used to determine efficacy of tobacco leaf powder in controlling cowpea bruchid include insect adult and juvenile mortalities and number of exit holes or average number of holes (ANH). The results revealed that tobacco leaf powder protected stored cowpea seeds against C. maculatus infestation during the period (16 days after treating cowpea seeds with tobacco leaves powder) of the experiment.