Background:
Although essential oils have numerous advantages when used as botanical pesticides, EOs are not commercially exploited for management of agricultural insect pest. It is due to their chemical compositions having highly volatile and thermo-labile secondary plant metabolites which may get easily oxidized or hydrolyzed depending on their structure. Because of their volatility, essentials oils do not persist for long in the environment and need to be continually reapplied to achieve the desired results. Therefore, there is a need of an invention to provide a slow releasing pest repelling composition made from naturally derived, naturally processed, safe and biodegradable ingredients, for use against rice crop pest, crop damaging birds, and stored grain pests while avoiding the potentially harmful effects of synthetic chemical-based insect repellents:
Technology Details:
The present invention provides a natural, environment friendly slow releasing pest repelling composition and method for effectively repelling insect pest found in rice field, such as stem borer, plant hopper, and leaf folder when the pest repelling composition in the form of a cake is placed in the field by hanging during crop cycle. The inventive composition effectively repels crop damaging birds during the period of grain formation. In another aspect, the inventive composition can effectively control the stored grain pests. The slow releasing pest repelling botanical composition of the present invention for repelling pests and birds may comprise a combination of essential oils or essential oil derived materials, without the requirement of synergists or other added chemicals for effectiveness. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention a composition is comprised of eucalyptus oil, lemon grass oil, and cedar wood oil, and camphor that work in combination to repel insect pests from rice field during crop cycle over an extended period of time. The present invention further preferably comprises solidifying agent to produce the composition in cake form and to slow down the volatilization rate of essential oils. For repelling the pest and birds, the inventive composition is preferably applied by hanging the pest repelling cake in the rice field at a regular interval during crop cycle after keeping it in a suitable porous cloth bag. The composition in the cake provides repellency at least for three months.