Youth Involvement in an Innovative Coconut Value Chain by Mwalimu Menza
UPM toxicity of TMOF
1. FINAL REPORT
TOXICITY OF TMOF AGAINST THE OIL PALM POLLINATOR, Elaeidobius
kamerunicus FAUST
Dated
6 January 2011
Prepared by
Prof. Dr. Dzolkhifli Omar
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture
Universiti Putra Malaysia
43400 UPM Serdang Selangor
To
EntoGenex Industries Sdn Bhd
Suite 16-04 & 17-04
Lvel 16 & 17, GTower
199 Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Kuala Lumpur
2. Toxicity of TMOF against the oil palm pollinator, Elaeidobius kamerunicus Faust
Introduction
TMOF is a new insecticide for the control of mosquito. It has been classified as the safe and
environmental friendly. However, the effect of TMOF on the oil palm pollinator, Elaeidobius
kamerunicus has not been documented. The objective of the study was to evaluate the
toxicity of TMOF against the pollinator.
Materials and Method
The study was conducted in the Toxicology Laboratory, Department of Plant Protection,
Universiti Putra Malaysia by exposing the adult pollinator to the residual film of TMOF on
glass. The TMOF and its WP TMOF and Rice Husk TMOF formulation were used in the study.
The dilutions at the field recommended rate of 0.21, 1.05 and 4.2 g/L of TMOF, WP TMOF
and Rice Husk TMOF respectively were prepared using distilled water. A total of 157 uL of
the dilution was applied to the 9 cm Petri dish and left to air dry. Then, a minimum of 20 to
maximum of 25 adults were placed in the treated glass Petri dish. A cotton wool soaked
with 5% honey solution was supplied to the adults. There were five replicates per
formulation with one control replicate. The mortality was recorded at 24, 48 and 72 h after
placement.
Control mortality if any was corrected in treatments using Abbott’s formula (Abbott, 1925).
The data were transformed to Arcsin and subjected to the Analysis of Variance (SAS) and the
means separation by Tukey’s Test (P = 0.05).
Results and Discussion
The effect of TMOF and its formulations on E. kamerunicus is shown in Table 1. No
mortality was observed in the control. The F values at 24, 48 and 72 h were 1.93, 1.56 and
1.53 respectively indicating there was no significant different between the treatments (P =
0.05).
Table 1. Toxicity of TMOF against E. kamerunicus following exposure at the recommended
rates.
Formulation Percentage Mortality ± Std Dev
24 h 48 h 72 h
TMOF 5.91± 8.33 6.93 ± 9.49 10.21 ± 9.34
WP TMOF 11.08 ± 10.33 13.39 ± 8.33 19.65 ± 4.87
RH TMOF 13.41 ± 2.90 18.11 ± 5.63 19.07 ± 4.46
The mortality observed following exposure to the 2 formulations of TMOF and TMOF itself
was less than 20%. Based on the International Organization of Biological Control (IOBC), the
toxicity of TMOF and its formulations against E. kamerunicus can be classified under
‘harmless’ (< 30%). This confirms the US EPA report that TMOF and TMOF-based products
3. show no toxicity or adverse effect against non-target insects, including the oil palm
pollinating weevil.
Reference
Abbott, S.W. 1925. A method of computing the effectiveness of an insecticide. J. Econ.
Entomol. 18:265-267.
Working document on selectivity of pesticides (2005). http://www.iobc-
wprs.org/ip_ipm/03021_IOBC_WorkingDocumentPesticides_Explanations.pdf. (Accessed on
27 Dec 2010)
