Efficacy of Microwave Irradiation on the Postharvest Control of Cowpea Bruchid, (Callosobruchus maculatus) Coleoptera: Bruchidae on Stored Cowpea

Aim: To investigate the efficacy of microwave irradiation against cowpea bruchid
Study Design: Completely Randomized Design (CRD) replicated five times.
Place and Duration of Study: Crop Protection Research Centre Laboratory, St Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai India between May to November, 2012.
Methodology: Mortality, damage assessment, germination test and proximate composition assays were assessed under laboratory conditions (28±2ºC, 70–75% RH and 11:13h photoperiod). Five pairs of 2 day old C. maculatus collected from stock culture were kept in a Petri-dish containing 50 healthy seeds (Ife brown variety) and exposed to microwave irradiation at 100 power level for 0,4,6,8, and 10 minutes.
Results: The study showed that microwave irradiation significantly (P≤0.05) increased the mortality of C. maculatus when compared with control without adversely affecting the viability and proximate composition of the seeds. The potential use of microwave irradiation as alternative seed protectants against C. maculatus on stored cowpea is recommended.c