Shifa Muneer
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, India
Title: A Comparison of Nano-thiacloprid and its Commercial Formulation against Green Apple Aphid (Aphis pomi) on Apple
Biography
Biography: Shifa Muneer
Abstract
Chemical insecticides are the agents of controlling insects wherein the control may result from killing the insect or preventing it from engaging in behaviours deemed destructive. Different eras of insecticides brought a revolution and have been in use for more than 50 years. They have resulted in fast, economical and effective pest control. However, after all these years of utilizing chemical pesticides to control pests, some disadvantages came to surface as well, like resistance, resurgence, low solubility and led to shifting to modern methods of combating pests like nanotechnology. In this study we developed a nano-insecticide of thiacloprid by utilizing the purest form of this insecticide i.e. its technical grade. The nano-insecticide was developed by first synthesizing amphiphilic polymer and then encapsulating the active ingredient of this insecticide in the nanospheres of the developed amphiphilic polymer. Consequently, the nano-formulation synthesized viz. Nano-thiacloprid was then evaluated along with its respective commercial formulations viz. Thiacloprid (Alanto). These two insecticides were studied for mortality response using leaf dip method under graded response bioassay, against Green Apple Aphid (Aphis pomi). The mortality was recorded after 24 hours and these mortality counts were subjected to probit-regression analysis after percentage mortalities were corrected for calculating LC50 values by Abbott’s formula.LC50 value of 1.02 ppm was recorded in case of nano-thiacloprid, while thiacloprid was found to be 6 times less efficient than its commercial formulation with LC50 value of 6.05 ppm. Nano-formulation of thiacloprid proved to be efficient in comparison to its commercial formulations as LC50 value was much lower as compared to commercial formulation. Owing to small surface area of nano-insecticides, better penetration occurs in insect body and longer persistence on leaf surface, as supported by the research findings. Nano-formulations of pesticides promise improved efficacy and can certainly replace the conventional pesticides in near future.