Control of structural pest (termites) using empty fruit bunches and mesocarp fibres of oil palm waste

• Main Authors: Sulaiman, S., Anuar, Aznah Nor, Abdul Razak, A. S., Chelliapan, S.
• Format: Article
• Published: Quality Scientific Publishing 2011
• Subjects: TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/39795/; http://dms.library.utm.my:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:76567
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) and mesocarp fibres (MF) are solid waste discharged directly from oil palm mill. They contain high fibrous cellulose which is a potential natural raw material for artificial termite bait. Accordingly, the present study describes the potential of mixing EFB and MF as raw material to enhance the palatability of termite bait, and to find the optimum concentration of imidacloprid for structural pest control. Palm oil fibre bait stations and laboratory tests were performed to evaluate the fibre removal efficiency by termites. Shredded EFB showed mean fibre removal efficiency of 19.81 ± 2.01 % and MF recorded 14.70 ± 3.55 %, indicating effectiveness of EFB as a raw material for artificial termite bait. In addition, 0.005 % concentration of imidacloprid was found to be the optimum active ingredient in EFB artificial termite bait and EFB is suggested as single fibre type to control structural pest.