Avaliação do potencial do tabaco e piri - piri como forma de controlo de pragas do milho armazenado na localidade de Mugeba, distrito de Mocuba

Abstract

Mobilizing enough food to feed the growing population is one of the great problems facing Mozambique and the world. Among the factors that limit production in Mozambique, the most prominent are the insufficiency and irregularity of rainfall, the low fertility of the soil and the occurrence of pests and diseases in the field and in the warehouse. According to FAO (1970), if pests and pathogens that harm world grain production were better controlled, an additional 200 million tons of grain would be available to feed one billion people each year, and if there were control more effective pests of grain stored in the various types of storage units, worldwide there could be an increase of 25% in food production, without the need for an increase in agricultural production. Fighting pests is a mandatory task. Among the control methods, physical, agronomic, biological, mechanical, chemical and integrated control can be used. Examples of various groups of insects that attack stored maize are: weevils (Sitophilus spp), bruchids (Calosobruchus spp), lepidoptera (Prostephanus truncatus}, kappa beetle (Trogoderma granarium} and flour rust beetle (Tribollium segerenaneum) 1996). According to Segeren (1993), the use of synthetic pesticides, manufactured by the chemical industry, is so common that it is difficult to imagine that this same use is relatively new in modern agriculture. Prior to the discovery of these pesticides, pests and diseases were minimally fought through a combination of methods, including cultural methods, biological control, the use of tolerant or resistant varieties and the use of pesticides derived from plants or chemical elements. Botanical pesticides can be prepared from different local plant materials. They are safe to use and are particularly suitable in food products as the product can be consumed the next day after application as long as it is processed