Insect control for agricultural produces using high electric field

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K15013
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Agricultural environmental engineering/Agricultural information engineering
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: Uchino Toshitaka 九州大学, 農学研究院, 教授 (70134393)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 田中 史彦 九州大学, 農学研究院, 准教授 (30284912)
• Research Collaborator: TSUKAZAKI Morihiro
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 害虫駆除 / 高電場 / ヒラタコクヌストモドキ / フジコナカイガラムシ / 殺虫 / 忌避

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) and Japanese mealybug (Planococcus kuraunhiae) were controlled by using high electric field. A device for red flour beetle consisted of a center bar and concentric cylinder electrodes, for Japanese mealybug parallel plate electrodes. A high voltage of 5 to 20 kV was applied to the electrodes.
A mortality rate of red flour beetle applied to 500 Hz pulsed voltage of 20 kV for 5 days reached 100 %. Germination and vigor rate of brown rice set under the condition for 4 days was same to control, whereas moisture content decreased by 0.3 % and fat acidity increased by 0.4 % in the vicinity of center bar electrode.
The mortality rate of Japanese mealybug lied under sepal of persimmon placed on a plate electrode at -20 kV DC was 96 % after 4 days voltage application. Weight, color, firmness and Brix value of persimmon fruit did not changed when it was exposed to the electric field for 8 h.

Free Research Field

ポストハーベスト工学