Evaluating the Effectiveness of Different Biorationals and Acaricide on Ticks Control in Cattle

Abstract

Background Farmers in Uganda are faced with many diseases that limit the productivity of their animals, many of these are caused by tick infestations. Years of use and overuse of available chemical ectoparasiticides have resulted in the large scale development of resistance in these parasites as well as negative environmental impacts. To reduce these impacts, much focus has been placed on the search for alternative, environmentally friendly parasite control strategies with lower chance of the development of resistance. Many rural farmers have used plants to control ticks. In some cases, the traditional use has been confirmed, in other cases, only the traditional use has been documented. A review of published scientific articles was conducted for medicinal plants with in vitro acaricidal or tick-repellent activities against immature and adult stages of ticks. However, little information has been studied on the organic biorationals and dangers of acaricide in Uganda as a tick control measure in cattle and for its Improvement and Development. The objectives of the study were; To determine the effectiveness of different biorationals as a tick control measure and To determine the effectiveness of different plant extracts on tick mortality Methodology Five plant materials were used in the evaluation with 90 – 100% efficacy according to the South African Journal of Botany (Azadirachta Indica, Gynandropsis gynandra, Lavendula augustifolia, cymbopogan spp and euphorbia hirta). The plant materials were washed, shade dried, crushed and maceration method was used for the extraction of the plant phytochemicals which were used for the evaluation. Results The results indicated that among the different plant extracts on tick control, Azadirachta Indica concoction of ratio 1:1(10ml organic recipe concoction: 10ml water) significantly caused an effect (<. 001) on the ticks in respective petri dishes and this was observed after 48 hours and 72 hours of treatment application. At 24 hours of treatment application no single tick was observed dead neither weak because the concoction was not yet very strong. The finding further indicates that 1:1 (10ml organic recipe concoction: 10ml water) of Azadirachta Indica at 48 hours, it was observed that from 12 petri dishes having a total of 12 ticks, 3.133 were observed dead whereas at 72 hours many (5.431) ticks continued to die.