Abstract:
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a valuable foodstuff but unfortunately this legume is prone to insect attacks from the chick
pea weevil (Callosobruchus chinensis L.). This serious pest damages the chickpea and causes decreases in the yield and in the nutritional
quality. Biological control is being used to deal with this problem. We tried different doses of the essential oils of three new medicinal
plants, namely Salvia verbenaca L., Scilla maritima L., and Artemisia herba-alba Asso to limit the damage of the chick pea weevil pest, and
to protect consumer’s health. To determine the effect and efficiency of the oil, the tests were conducted using the different biological
parameters of fertility, longevity, and fecundity, under controlled temperature and relative humidity (28°C and 75%). The effectiveness of organic oils was demonstrated. We tested these oils on the germination of seeds. The obtained results showed that the tested
plant oils have a real organic insecticide effect. The essential oil of Artemisia proved most effective as a biocide; achieving a mortality
rate of 100%. A significant reduction in longevity was observed under the effect of 30 µl of S. maritima (1.3 days) and S. verbenaca (2.8,
4.6 days), respectively, for males and females compared to 8 and 15 days for the control. For fecundity, an inhibition of oviposition
was obtained using 30 µl of Salvia and Scilla essential oils