New successes with organic pesticides 1

New successes with organic pesticides Jatropha curcas, an euphorbiaceous shrub familiar to West African villagers, has been shown to be a very effective pesticide. Jatropha is often planted as a hedge to protect crops: its leaves and fruit are poisonous to livestock, but it is not invasive. It is very drought tolerant, it has medicinal uses and the seeds produce an oil which can be used as a substitute for diesel. The seed has an oil content of 30%, which is easily extracted with simple presses; many villagers in Mali now use the oil to drive stationary engines. In the Philippines, researchers at the Cotton Research and Development Institute have been using jatropha to control boll worm and flower-weevil on cotton. They have also found that it successfully controls other pests such as weevils in stored grains and snails which infest rice paddies. In addition, they are hopeful it might help in the home to control cockroaches and flies. The pesticide can be easily prepared by farmers, either as a spray or as a powder. For use in a knapsack sprayer the oil is extracted from the jatropha seed and mixed with water. The oil is yellow but turns white when mixed with water and forms a uniform suspension that does not clog the spray nozzles. To make the powder, the seeds are simply air dried and then ground very finely. The powder is effective against snails and is being further tested in grain stores. Jatropha has been so successful that consideration is now being given to building a factory to produce the insecticides on a commercial scale. Cotton Research and Development Institute Batac 2906 llocos Norte PHILIPPINES