Methods of Preparation of Traditional pesticides
Detailed aspects of preparing the traditional pest control substances are narrated here. Various forms of materials like leaf extract, leaf etc. may be prepared using the respective methods presented in this chapter.
Pest repellants:

Leaf Mixture extracts

Collect leaves of the specific plant, clean well with water, grind into paste form with water, soak in equal amount of water or cow urine and keep it undisturbed for overnight. In the morning for better effect, boil the extract for1/2 -1hour at 70-80°C in a closed container. After boiling, leave it for another 12hours to cool, the cooled suspension must be filtered with kada cloth and filtrate is stored in a clean glass bottle and it can be stored upto 15 days. Mix the extract with the recommended quantity of water for the crop.

Neem leaf extract

Immerse 5 Kg of fresh neem leaves in 6 litre of water, the leaves are chopped and made into paste. Boil the suspension, filter in the morning, add 150g of soap powder to the mixture, and spray with 60 litre of water.

Pongamia leaf extract

Farmers of Karnataka collect the leaves of pungam (pongamia spp.) which grow on river sides, road sides and in forests and incorporate them in water-logged paddy fields before transplanting. The leaves get thoroughly mixed during the puddling operation, and once they mix well in the field they decay within 2 or 3 days.

Ipomoea leaf extract

Clip and pool 5 Kg of fresh leaves of Ipomoea, leaving the waste materials like waste bark and dried stem. Clip the fresh leaves and make them into fine paste. Mix the paste with equal volume of water and boil. Now add little quantity of cow urine to this boiling mixture. When mixture is at one fourth of its actual volume, remove from the burner and allow it to cool for overnight. Filter the solution in the morning and repeat the washing with cow urine and make the volume to 4.5 litre. Add 250g of soap powder in 500 ml of water and mix the extract with the soap solution and use 500 ml in 10 litre of water for an acre.

Vitex leaf extract

This is commonly available on the road sides. Pluck the fresh leaves, clean and chop them well using grinder and make them into paste. Soak this in 3 litre of clean, filtered cow urine for overnight. In the next day morning, stir the soaked solution and boil at 70-80°C. for about 3-4 hours. Add fresh distilled water when the solution in concentrated too much., allow it to cool overnight and filter using kada cloth. Mix 150 g of soap powder in 250 ml of water and add to the filtrate. Dilute 50 ml of final solution mixture in 1 litre of water to spray.

Calotropis leaf extract

Collect calotropis leaves, 1 kg with latex, clean well from impurities, chop and make them into fine paste and mix this paste with 50 l. of water and filter the suspension and spray.

Tinospora plant extract

Chop vines of Tinospora cordifolia Boerl, grind into paste with water and stir thoroughly. Rice seedlings are soaked in this liquid for whole night before transplanting. About 10-15 kg of chopped vines is needed for the treatment of seedlings for planting in one hectare. This is effective against the rice green leafhopper.
The vines are cut into 30 cm long pieces or tie it to couple of bamboo pole on both ends and keep them in the field. Sometimes, smaller pieces are stuffed in net type shopping bag. The bag as such is kept at the water inlet of the field. However, the vine pieces should be removed before the grain sets.

Jatropha plant extract

Clean stem and leaves of Jatropha plant with pure water and grind well, soak this oily paste, 5 kg in 5 litre of cow urine for overnight and boil it for 3-4 hours in 2 litre of water. The material is concentrated to 5 litre and filtered in coarse kada cloth and the filtrate is sprayed.

Tobacco waster extract

Collect the tobacco waste from the field after harvest or form shops, cut them (5 kg) into pieces and soak in cow urine of 5 litre for 7 days. Filter the suspension and mix 150 g of soap and 250 ml of water and spray @ 50 ml/litre of water.

Agave flesh extract

Agave plants which grow on the road sides are cut, cleaned, chopped into pieces and then made into paste by grinding well. Soak it in pure water for 24 hour. the suspension must be mixed well and filter it using muslin cloth. About 500 ml of cow urine may also be added at every spray to 100 ml of the extract and 10 g of soap solution.

Garlic clove extract

Chop clean garlic bulbs, make them into paste and soak with equal volume of kerosene and allow the mixture to stand still for overnight. Mix it and filter with fine kada cloth. Add 150 g of common soap powder to the above mix and store in a clean glass bottle.

Green chilli and garlic extract

Wash destalked fresh green chillies in distilled water, make them into fine paste, mix in 10 litre of water and boil at 70-80°C till the contents are reduced to half.Chop clean garlic cloves, make them into paste and soak with equal volume of kerosene and then allow the mixture to stand still for 12-24 hours and later mix it and filter using fine kada cloth.Mix about 150 g of common soap powder with 250 ml of water and mix the above three extracts together, spray 20 ml of the extract per 1 litre of water.

Neem seed kernel extract

• Neem seed kernels are collected washed cleaned in pure water and shade-dried for a few days. The outer rind of seed is broken and kernels gathered and ground well as paste form and 200 litre of water and 150 ml of soap solution are added and kept undisturbed for overnight, filter and spray in the morning.
• Mix paste of neem seed kernel with 5 litre of water or cow urine and leave it undisturbed for overnight. The soaked solution must be boiled for 2-3 hours at 70-80ºC. The colour of the solution will turn dark and allow it to cool, filter and store the extract in a clean glass-stoppered bottle.
• Neem seed kernel is soaked in kerosene for overnight. In the next day morning, the suspension is filtered and sprayed by adding sufficient quantity of water.
  
  

Aqueous solution of kernels of Melia azedarach

Melia azedarach kernels are soaked in a liter of water and boiled for half an hour and kept undisturbed for 24 hours.
1 litre of cow urine is mixed with 159 g of soap powder and filtered. The filtrate is mixed with Melia azedarach kernel extract and stored for future use.

Nerium seed extract

Seeds of Nerium indicum are collected, shade-dried for a few days, made into powder, sieved, and then soaked in water to be left undisturbed for overnight, filter with kada cloth and filtrate is sprayed.

Neem oil spray

Mix neem oil (3 litre) with 200 ml of soap solution and spray an acre in 200 litre of water.

Mahuva oil spray

Mix 30 ml of the Mahuva oil and 5 g of soap with 1 litre of water for spray.

Fish oil rosin soap solution

Fish oil rosin soap 1 litre is added to water and tobacco extract and soap are added. Spraying is done in morning hours.

Cigar end filtrate

Boil non-filter-tipped cigarette ends or half of filters in 9 litre of water for half an hour. Strain through muslin cloth and heat the clear brown liquid with one of soft soaps till it is dissolved. Mix 1 part of  brown fluid with 4 parts of water for spraying.

Cow dung extract

Collect fresh cow dung, dissolve it at the rate of 100-g in 100 ml of water, filter with kada cloth and spray.

Neem leaf powder

Collect fresh neem leaves, clean well to ensure free of dirt and dusts, and dry it in shade for 15 days. Then, crush the leaves to powder form and treat the seeds.

Adathoda leaf dust

Collect Adathoda leaves locally, clean from impurities and shade dry for a week. Crush the shade-dried leaves into fine powder and store for future use.

Cannabis leaf dust

Collect cannabis leaves, shade dry, crush into fine powder and use.

Nochi leaf dust

Collect Nochi leaves locally, shade dry for 15 days, crush into fine powder and use.

Tobacco leaf dust

Dry the cured tobacco leaf in the shade, make it into fine powder and use.

Ipomoea leaf dust

Collect Ipomoea leaves from the plants found on the waste lands and irrigation canals, dry for 15 days, make it into fine powder and use.

Tobacco dust

Collect tobacco plant waste materials from the field as well as shops, shade-dry for about 15 days and then powder finely.

Neem and Datura leaf powder

Collect Neem and Datura leaves, clean and dry them under shade. After a week, crush the dried leaves into powder and store for future use. Neem and Datura are mixed in equal amounts.

Neem seed kernel powder

Collect neem fruits locally, remove the outer skin along with the pulp, clean the seeds and dry in shade. After a week, remove the seed coat and grind the resultant contents into fine powder. Sieve it and preserve in glass jars for further use.

Turmeric powder

Prepare Turmeric powder out of turmeric rhizome gathered from the local market and store in glass bottles.

Vasambu rhizome powder

Prepare vasambu rhizome collected from the local market, into fine powder after removing its outer skin and use.

Rice bran and kerosene mixture

Sieve the rice bran gathered from the rice mill to get fine particles and mix it (14 kg) thoroughly in 2 l. of kerosene and dust the mixture in the morning hours.

Rice and saw dust

Rice bran and saw dust gathered from the rice mill and saw mill are used.

Saw dust

15 kg of sieved saw dust is mixed with 2 l. of kerosene and used as dust.

Cycas cone pieces

The cycas cone is available in the western ghats of the Tamilnadu border at Pulayari in Tirunelveli District and  Ariyankkavu in Kerala state. The male cones when become matured, emit the fragrant smell, which is insecticidal in action. These cones are cut into small pieces and kept in a bunch of wet paddy straw. This is placed on the top of stick kept in the field to the level of plant canopy. The paddy straw is continuously kept wet to enhance the odour emission.

Tree bark pieces

Mix barks of various trees like cinnamomum zeylanicum, and Eucalyptus in a ratio of 1:4 and keep the bags of paddy seeds. The barks are broken in a reasonable size and then used.

Common Ash

Prepare ash from the common fire wood and dry leaves after burning, grind ad sieve to get fine powder and use.

Brick kiln ash

Collect ash from brick kiln and sieve for fine particles and use.

Wood ash dust.

The ash is collected from the residues of fire wood and cleaned well by sieving. The fine powder thus collected is stored in separate clean containers for future use.

Fly ash

Grind the lignite fly ash available from Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Neyveli into fine powder. Sieve it to get fine powder and store in glass containers for future use.

Sand

River sand is sieved to fine and used in seed treatment.

Leaves of Dhumas (Combretum ovalifolium Spreng.)

Collect leaves of Dhumas, a shrub found along farm boundary and in waste lands. About 5-7 persons stand in a row and keep leaves of this plant in individual bags on their back. They start moving from one side of the field to the other in the direction of wind. In the way, they catch 1-2 bugs from the air and crush them with 2 or 3 leaves by rubbing palms of hands. Peculiar smell comes from the mixture of leaves and insects. According to user of this practiced, the pest will fly away in the direction of wind due to peculiar odour. As soon as the smell is over (or) got reduced i.e., after 2-4 min. fresh insects and leaves are crushed continuously till all the insects fly away in one direction quickly.

Calotropis stem scare

The farmers remove the leaves and then split the stems of calotropis vertically into the two halves with a sickly and cut them into small pieces (10 to 15 cm long). Scatter these dieces in the  field along the border and on bunds at a distance of 2 to 3m. in such a way that their top sides remains up. The stem surface which resembles the skin of the snake ocally found is believed to scare the rats away.

Glyricidia rat killer

Glyricidia sepium, a fast growing leguminous tree is a “rat killer”. Farmers  grind the bark and leaves, mix it with damp wheat or smear it on banana slice and use it for the purpose. A mixture of cereals and the leaves of Glyricidia are ground together and allowed to ferment. The fermented solution is used as bait for the rats.Bunch or throny thistle flower is tied to the ends of the beam holding food shift deters the rat by pricking them and so the rats do not try to cross over the thorns.

Turmeric cooked rice

Turmeric powder-mixed cooked rice, which will be yellowish is placed in the field for infestation by the worms and the semiloopers and birds are attracted to this. They will be picked by the birds sitting on poles set in the field.

Approximately 1 kg rice is needed for an acre. Small umps of the yellow coloured rice are placed in the field, at 5 m apart in early morning or late evening, this practice initiated when significant numbers of larvae begin to appear. It is repeated continuously for 2 or 3 days. The first day usually passes as a baiting day, but from the second day large number of birds, attracted by the rice, will prey upon the larvae. The food is offered in a thin dish made from the cross section of a banana leaf sheath balanced delicately on a slated, when the birds attempt to take the food, accidentally tilts and the food falls down to the ground. When the birds go for the fallen food, they find the caterpillars then and eat them too.

Some farmers do broadcast rice cooked in milk to attract the birds. This method is also used against caterpillars. This method is prevalent in Andhra Pradesh and Madurai district in Tamil Nadu.

To increase shelf line during Storage period:

• The cereals at the time of storage are mixed with empty shells of Bengal gram (cicer arietinum) pods and salty nature of the pod is supposed to keep away the storage pests. This is followed in Andhra Pradesh.
• People smear seeds of wheat and many crops with castor oil for long term preservation.
• The seeds are taken in a container and cloth or paper pieces, over them leaves of neem, pungam and nochi are palced to 3” level and sand for 6” depth.

Source:
Dr. S.Sridhar,
Professor, Dept. Entomology, TNAU, Coimbatore-3