ALLA GLADCAIA, LIDIA GAVRILITA Institute of Genetics, Physiology and Plant Protection from Republic of Moldova, e-mail: allagladcaia@mail.ru,
lidia_gavrilita@yahoo.com
Natural pesticides are less harmful, biodegradable, less toxic to the non-target organism, and also economical. In order to produce organic products, studies were carried out on the properties of herbal extracts based on Rheum officinale Baill. (Polygonaceae) and Azadirachta indica Juss. (Meleaceae). The aim of the work was the determination of the possibility of using plant extracts as pest control agents. The neem extract exhibited the maximum insecticidal activity, almost completely suppressing the hatching of Sitotroga cerealella adults (the pest mortality was 99,7%) and reducing the infection of Cucumis sativus L seedlings with spider mites by 82,4%. The biological effectiveness of the rhubarb root extract (75,3%) in controlling the infection of C. sativus seedlings with a spider mite was determined. It was found that rhubarb root extract almost halved the hatching of S. cerealella adults, compared with the control. The use of such plant protection products will reduce the number of chemical treatments, and hence the residual amount of pesticides in organic agricultural products.
