Activities of neem and wood ash as biopesticides in the control of insect pests on vegetable crops in Mubi

The study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of neem and wood ash for the control of insect pests infesting three vegetables in the gardening; okra, spinach and sorrel. The plants were sown in a randomize complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Treatment application starts immediately after germination and continued on 3 days interval. Parameters observed were number of damages and number of insect infestation. These were noted after 6 and 9 weeks of germination. Data collected was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results revealed that there was a significant difference (P>0.05) in the number of damages as well as number of insect pests encountered. Wood ash proved to be more effective in protecting the vegetables against insect pests, since it recorded significant minimum activities of insect pests. Therefore, botanicals such as neem and wood ash could be considered as an effective in alternative method of pest management. The use of biopesticides generally is encouraged since they can proffer solution of controlling insect pest without any environmental concern.