Preparation of Emulsifiable Concentrat formulation of Neem seed extract and investigating its efficacy against green peach Aphid Myzus persicae

Azadirachtin is an active ingredient present in the Neem seed extract and oil with pesticidal properties. Studies show that this compound with a different mode of action can be effective on many agricultural pests like insects, mites, nematodes and pathological fungi. Therefore a lot of efforts have been made to develop and prepare an effective commercial formulation of this product. In this study, development of an effective formulation of Neem extract was undertaken. Therefore, the Neem extract was obtained from Neem seed by acetone and the presence of Azadirachtin was confirmed by proton NMR method. The purified Neem extract was used to prepare the EC formulation. Hence 5 g of sunflower oil with 130 mg of the purified Azadirachtin extract along with different amounts of Tween 85 as emulsifier (0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 5 gram) were mixed in 50 ml test-tubes. Creaming and phase separation of the prepared emulsion were studied as the quality control factors according to the FAO standards and finally 1.28% EC formulation of Neem seed extract was obtained. Evaluation of the efficacy of different concentrations of this formulation compared with pirimicarb, diazinon and deltametrin on green peach aphid, Myzus persicae, after 14 days showed that the Neem formulation (EC 1.28%) with the dose of 3 ml/l, pirimicarb and diazinon showed 71.4±2.5, 74.5±3.7 and 76.9±2.6 percent mortality respectively, were placed in the same group statistically. Therefore this formulation can be used as an alternative or in rotation with other insecticides.