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Bambara groundnuts (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) is an important leguminous crop native in Africa and is mainly cultivated for its highly nutritious
grains. However, bambara groundnuts production is constrained by many
insect pests including aphids (Aphids sp.), leaf hopers (Hilda patruelis), foliage beetles (Ootheca mutabilis), pod sucking bugs (Clavigralla tomentosicollis), red spider mites (Tetrunychus sp.), groundnut jassids in the field and
bruchids (Callosobruchus maculatus, and Callosobruchus subinnotatus) in
the storage. Smallholder farmers usually apply synthetic pesticides to control
those insect pests. However, synthetic pesticides are potentially harmful to
the environment, non-targeted animals and human’s health. Pesticidal plants
such as B. pilosa, L. camara, T. vogelii, V. amygdalina, L. javanica, T. diversifolia, and C. dichogamus which are available in most parts of Africa where
the crop is cultivated, possess bioactive chemicals which have insecticidal
properties and have been revealed to be potential in the control of field and
storage insect pests. Therefore, they can be used as an alternative to synthetic
pesticides. Bambara groundnuts being one of the neglected crops, the insects
affecting the crop have not been well explored in terms of their abundance
and damage they cause to the crop in the field and on storage. Thus, in this
review, the common arthropod pests of the bambara groundnuts and the potential of the bioactive compounds from the common plants with pesticidal
properties have been described. It is recommended that the potential of these pesticidal plants to be investigated on bambara groundnut pests control on
the field and on storage to optimize their use by smallholder farmers in insect
control to reduce dependence on synthetic pesticides. |
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