Overview of natural inert dusts against stored-products pests as part of integrated pest management
M. Bayu Mario (a*), William Yeremia Patasik (a), Muh. Ridha Taqwa Tang (a), Mukthi Muhammad (a), Amrina Rosyada (a), Ahmad Arisandi Jamal (a), Nurwahida (a), Lekhnath Kafle (b)

a) Department of Plant Pests and Diseases, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Hasanuddin, Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan Km. 10 Makassar 90245, Indonesia
b) Department of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, 1 Shuefu Road, Neipu, Pingtung 912, Republic of China (Taiwan)
*) bayumario[at]unhas.ac.id

Abstract

Inert dust has been used as a grain protectant since the Aztecs of ancient Mexico. Inert dust has been divided into four groups, the first group included sand, kaolin, paddy husk ash, wood ash, and clays, the second group included mineral dust, the third group such as synthetic silica and the last group is natural silica included diatomaceous earth and zeolite. Inert dust has a unique mechanism, inert dust particles could penetrate through the insects^ physical properties which causes dehydration through the cuticle. Relative humidity of air is one of the factors that affect the effectivity of inert dust application. Inert dust has been used traditionally by farmers, then brings impact to the insect such as decreased population, no insect resistance, and environmentally friendly. Problems of using inert dust such as visible residues on grain, airborne dust, reduced flowability, bulk density reduction, and adverse effects on downstream processing machinery also. Besides that, inert dust is a very light product, it could cause human respiratory illness. The inert dust could be applied to the smaller or larger storage containers. Natural silica can be easily adapted to the modern agriculture as an IPM solution.

Keywords: Ash- Natural silica- Dehydration- Diatomaceous earth- Insect cuticle

Topic: Integrated pest and disease management