Bullock’s Heart Tree : Cost-Effective Bio-Insecticide
A Research intern at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) recently won the prize for developing a cost-effective bio-insecticide from the leaves of bullock’s heart tree (Annona reticulata), popularly known as Ramphal.
- Bullock heart tree’s extracts have traditionally been used to cure conditions including dysentery and pediculosis (louse infestation)
- Extracts from its leaves may be useful against three destructive pests — Pod borer, Green peach aphid and fall armyworm with a mortality rate of 78-88 per cent, the research claimed.
- All these pests are known for incurring crop losses to farmers.
- It is a small deciduous or semi-evergreen tree in the plant family Annonaceae and part of the Annonas group.
- It is best known for its fruit, called custard apple, a common name shared with fruits of several other species in the same genus: A.cherimola and A. squamosa.
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT):
- ICRISAT is a non-profit agricultural research organization.
- It was founded in 1972 by a consortium of organizations convened by the Ford and the Rockefeller Foundations.
- Its charter was signed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
