A Comparison Study on the Effects of Dimethoate and an Aqueous Extract of Drimia Maritima, on Tomato Crops in an Arid Area, of Southern Tunisia

In agricultural activity, crop damage by pests is a common menace. Synthetic pesticide application is the easiest solution to attack these pests, but it has harmful effects on the environment and especially on the quality of crops for human consumption. In fact, traces of pesticide residues are found on crops, which constitutes a serious risk for health. The objective of this study is to propose an alternative solution able to reduce the pest population without altering the quality of the harvest. In fact, this solution is based on the use of natural products such as bio insecticides extracted from plants. In this context, we evaluated in vivo, on a tomato crop cultivated in an arid environment in the region of Sidi Makhlouf-Medenine in south Tunisia, the insecticidal activity of Drimia maritima extract, at different aqueous solution concentrations, in comparison with the dimethoate, a chemical pesticide. The experiment revealed that plots treated with the Drimia maritima extract had better average fruit weight, yield, and fruit number per plot than field parcel treated with dimethoate. Moreover, the results showed that these biological extracts had pesticidal effect against the leaf miner (Tuta absoluta), which exceeded that of the synthetic pesticide. Therefore, replacing chemical pesticides with these extracts of Drimia in agriculture is certainly a potential and serious alternative to save crops, the environment, and health.