Formulation of a Bioinsecticide Based on Neem and Chamomile Used for the Greenhouse Control of the Glasshouse Whitefly Trialeurodes Vaporariorum

Jesús Garcia Pereyra¹, Gabriel Nicolas Aviña Martínez¹, Sergio De los Santos Villalobos², Rosa Rubio Graciano¹, Ana Maria Garcia Montelongo¹, and Hiram Medrano Roldan^1,3

1. Tecnológico Nacional de México, México

2. Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, México

3. Instituto Tecnológico de Durango, México

Abstract: In the present work, formulates elaborated with neem oil (Azadirachta indica), chamomile extracts (Matricaria chamomilla) and lechuguilla (Agave lechuguilla torrey) as a surfactant with cactus pectin as emulsifier, were used for the control of the whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum in greenhouse conditions. Ecological traps containing Dipteran pheromones (Noctovi®) were designed for this purpose. Studies were conducted in the agricultural biology laboratory of the Tecnológico del Valle del Guadiana in the municipality of Durango Mexico. Bioassays were carried out within six tomato and strawberry greenhouses in Durango during the months of August through November of 2014. Additionally, plant extract formulates containing chicalote (Argemone mexicana L.), fetid goosefoot (Chenopodium glaucum), castor bean (Ricinus communis) and sodium lauryl sulfate as surfactant, were sprayed as controls in intervals of 15 days. Prepared formulations possessed varying degrees of toxicity, being the neem formulation the most toxic against whiteflies, presenting a mortality rate of 71.3%, while the oak-leaved goosefoot and the Mexican poppy formulations presented a mortality rate of 65 and 62.3% respectively. Castor bean extracts on the other hand, exhibited little to no toxicity against whiteflies in both greenhouse and bioclimatic chamber bioassays. Neem oil bioformulations with cactus pectin, chamomile and lechuguilla extracts presented a whitefly mortality rate of 60% in tomato crops and 62% in strawberry crops.
 
Key words: neem oil, bioinsecticide, greenhouse, whitefly