The Effectiveness of Natural Plant Powder in Controlling Rice Weevils (Sitophilus oryzae)

The rice industry today, very depends on synthetic pesticides to protect against losses. However, synthetic pesticides pose toxicity and give a negative effect on humans, animals, and the environment. Thus, this study aims to observe the effectiveness of natural powders such as neem (Azadirachta indica) and black pepper (Piper nigrum) in controlling rice weevil (Sitopylus oryzae) during rice storage. Treatments included in this experiment comprised control where no plant powder was applied (T0), black pepper powder (T1), neem leaves powder (T2), and a combination of neem with black pepper (T3). All treatments were conducted on different types of rice, Malaysia (local) and Thailand rice. 30 g of dosage for all treatments were applied to 100 g of rice with 20 weevils introduced. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) with 32 samples. The finding shows natural plant powder was significant (P= 0.000) in controlling rice weevil. Meanwhile, neem leaves powder (T2) was more effective in controlling rice weevils during storage due to the lowest survival rate (Local: 78.75%, Thailand: 55%) and the highest mortality rate (Local: 21.25%, Thailand: 45%) of rice weevils for both types of rice. Besides, neem leaves powder also showed the lowest rice damage data (Local: 20.75%, Thailand: 20.35%) compared to other treatments. Study findings can help to meet current health, environment, and safety standards.