FACTORS INFLUENCING INSECTICIDE

EFFICIECY
Physical factors of formulations

Penetration of insecticide through cuticle

Specific susceptibility to insecticides

Weather conditions

Conditions in the field

Compatibility

Applications of insecticides
Physical Properties of Formulations:

The insecticides are available

as :
• Dusts • Marketed in a reduced
• wettable powders concentration which can be
• emulsifiable concentrates further diluted at the time
• water soluble concentrates of application.
• granules
• soluble powders
 Penetration of Insecticide through Cuticle:

Depend upon the some lipid-

quality of the insoluble materials
cuticle and - arsenicals and
chemical flourides find their
composition of the way through the
insecticide. cuticle.

Most of the Head, neck, thorax

insecticides are or other
lipophilic and are intersegmental
absorbed by wax parts where the
in the epicuticle. cuticle is thin and
there are vital
nerve-centres.
 Specific Susceptibility to Insecticides:

Different species of insects have a wide range of susceptibility to insecticides.

An insecticide can act only if it hits the vital part of an insect.

The habitat and the behaviour of the species play an important role.

Different developmental stages of a pest species are also affected differently by an

insecticide.
In the pupal stage, an insect neither respires very much nor feeds and is often protected by
a cocoon or by an earthen cell and hence, it escapes being hit directly.

In larval stage is very highly vulnerable to stomach as well as to contact insecticides.

Weather Conditions:

If the wind is blowing at a speed of 8-10 km per hour, it will interfere with spraying.
Dusting from an aircraft is best done early in the morning or in the evening when there is only a slight wind.
when the sun is up, the rising currents tend to carry the dust away from the crop.
If aerosols are to be applied, wind velocity of 1.5-6.0 km per hour is useful and again cooler temperatures near
the ground in the morning or after sunset are suitable.
A few meters higher up, the atmosphere is warm and the aerosol cloud has a tendency to rise and drift.
In general, extremes of temperature are not favourable.
Certain chemicals, when applied in hot weather, may injure the plants.
The rate of metabolism is fast at high temperatures so the insects have an inherent capacity to resist the
poison.
If the weather is too cold, the oil sprays may cause injury to foliage.
If insecticides do not contain a good adhesive and the spray does not stick to the plants effectively, it may be
washed off by rain.
Dusts are more easily washed-off than sprays but if dusting is done when there is dew on the plants, the
insecticide sticks quite well.
Conditions in the Field:
• The condition of the plant, the location of the pest, the time of application and the amount of insecticide applied, all
determine the effectiveness of an operation. Some plants grow faster than others, still others grow faster in one season than
in another, and the fruits grow much faster in the early stages than in the later stages.
• In these cases if the entire surface is to be kept covered with an insecticide, naturally the frequency of application has to be
changed accordingly. Even where it is not necessary to maintain a deposit, it is desirable to time the application properly.
Spraying or dusting is to be done when the pest is in a vulnerable stage; if done too early, the maximum kill may not be
obtained; if too late, much damage to the crop may have already been caused.
• In general, crops should not be sprayed while in blossom, because the flowers in which seed is to set may be damaged or the
bees and other insects so important for the pollination of crops, may be killed, thus causing reduction in yield instead of an
expected increase. The structure of the leaf is also important; hairy leaves are more easily covered while those having smooth
and waxy surface have to be sprayed with more sticky insecticides.
• Since the pest is to be directly hit, the method or site of application of the poison would depend on its location. Insects
feeding on the lower surface of the leaves have to be reached by the spray, those feeding on the roots have to be killed by
mixing insecticides with the soil, and those rising up the trunks of the trees have to be intercepted with sticky or poison
bands.
• Various insecticides are effective for different durations. As a rule of thumb, the duration of effectiveness of dusts is for about
one week and that of the sprays for about two weeks. The excessive use of insecticides is expensive and wasteful, and can be
injurious to plants or non-target animals in the soil.
• Even pond life can be affected by the run-off from treated fields. The selection of an insecticide and the frequency of its
application should be such that the near maximum kill is obtained with the least quantity, so that the natural enemies of the
pests can be spared as far as possible.
COMPATIBILITY
• Since the farmer is interested in protecting the crop both from
pests and diseases, the insecticides and fungicides or even some
weedicides might have to be mixed together before spraying.
Some chemicals are compatible whereas others are not; the
former should not be mixed because they might become
ineffective or damage the foliage.
• The mixing should be done with the full knowledge of their
compatibility or in consultation with an expert. Based on the
compatibility of various compounds, a miscibility chart should
always be consulted at the time of mixing the chemicals.
 Application of Pesticides:
• Apart from precautions for spraying and dusting, there are many other points that should be considered for obtaining the best results. A given preparation of insecticide has instructions printed on the packing
and these should be followed strictly. For example, an oil-base insecticide meant for use on walls, furniture, wooden structures and floors should not be sprayed on plants and again the one meant for use on
dormant trees cannot be used on those having foliage.
• Arsenicals (and chlorinated hydrocarbons) persist in the soil for many years and may accumulate in quantities sufficient to injure the plants under temperate conditions. The organophosphates are generally
very toxic to man and domestic animals, but they have the advantage that they do not persist for long and are detoxified in the soil after 2 or 3 months. They are also generally destroyed when the food is
cooked.
• The old saying that “If little is good, more is better” does not apply in the case of insecticides. The right dose (quantity per hectare) or the right potency (concentration of an insecticide) should be applied at
right intervals. To get the best results a preparation has to be applied in optimum quantity.
• This is possible if the machine is correctly calibrated. It is particularly important with the power-operated sprayers and dusters. With the manually operated high-volume sprayers, generally 600-1000 litres of
the fluid is required per hectare, whereas with the low-volume sprayers (carried on the back or on a trolley) only 125-200 litres is sufficient, hence the concentration is increased.
• Since the rate of flow is important in power sprayers and power dusters, it should be measured by noticing the amount of the insecticide used on a known crop area. The rate of flow can then be increased or
decreased by making adjustments in the apertures.
• Certain safeguards are needed to protect the consumers of food (vegetable or animal origin) and other animals in the environment such as wildlife, domestic animals, honeybees, fish, etc. When applying
insecticides inside buildings, we have to be sure that no food lies exposed or that the toys of children do not get excessive deposits. The unused insecticide should be kept out of reach of children or illiterate
people and also away from food products. Empty containers should not be used for other purposes.
• Strict precautions are to be taken at the time of application. All insecticides are poisons and, therefore, not to be swallowed. Many of them can also be absorbed through the skin in lethal quantities, or inhaled
while applying them. Therefore, the operators should wear gloves, goggles, overalls, gum boots and gas masks, and should never dip their hands into the preparation. While spraying or dusting they should not
work against the wind.
• The left-over spraying fluid should not be dumped into a pond or a stream, because fish and other aquatic animals will die through contamination; nor should the equipment be washed there after use. The
left-over fluid and the empty containers should be buried in soil, about half a metre deep at some isolated place and away from any water source.
• It is important that the equipment after use is washed, otherwise there can be a mistake, particularly if it is used for the application of weedicides and then unknowingly, for applying insecticide or a fungicide.
Even small residues of a weedicide like 2, 4-D can cause very serious damage to valuable crops like cotton and potato.
• While fumigating, the operators using a particular gas should be thoroughly trained in its use. They should use gas-masks and protect their hands with gloves. The warehouse or the store to be fumigated
should be made airtight by closing all cracks and crevices with mud, leaving open the main entrance which is closed after opening the outlet of container of the gas.
• If the room to be fumigated is close to human dwellings, the persons should be asked to vacate them temporarily. After allowing the required exposure for fumigation, the room is opened, so that the gas may
escape and only then should any person be allowed to enter it or to live nearby.
• The dose to be used is generally expressed as litres/kilograms per 100 cubic metres space. This dose should be very carefully applied to plants in a greenhouse, because plants are sensitive to excessive doses.
Moreover, the fumigation should be done at night owing to the possible injury to green plants in the presence of light. The duration is rarely more than one hour and the optimum temperature is 5-25°C.
• Fruit trees like citrus, apple, walnut, etc. can also be fumigated in the field by enclosing them in canvas or nylon tents lined with polythene. The same procedure can be followed for fumigating open heaps of
grain, a pile of furniture or a stack of timber.
• The soil fumigants are very costly and, therefore, their application should be made with proper equipment which is generally tractor-driven or power-driven. If the fumigant is not applied at the right depth, at
the right soil moisture, and is not properly packed afterwards, the gas can escape rendering the effort and money futile. For killing soil nematodes, D-D mixture, DBCP (Nemagon) and fensulfothion (Dasanit)
are quite effective.
BIBLIOGRAPHY;
• https://www.slideshare.net/ArchanaDevi18/factors-affecting-insecticide-toxicity
• https://www.domyown.com/insecticide-formulations-101-a-321.html
• https://www.slideshare.net/AnkitSharda5/insecticide-definition-types-and-classification
• Effectiveness of Insecticides: 7 Factors | Pest Control | Agriculture (agricultureinindia.net)