ABSTRACT
Bambara groundnuts (Vigna subterranea (L.)
Verdc.) is an important leguminous crop native in Africa and is mainly
cultivated for its highly nutritious grains. However, bambara groundnuts
production is constrained by many insect pests including aphids (Aphids sp.), leaf hopers (Hilda patruelis), foliage beetles (Ootheca mutabilis), pod sucking bugs (Clavigralla tomentosicollis), red spider mites (Tetrunychus sp.), groundnut jassids in
the field and bruchids (Callosobruchus maculatus, and Callosobruchus subinnotatus)
in the storage. Smallholder farmers usually apply synthetic pesticides to
control those insect pests. However, synthetic pesticides are potentially harmful
to the environment, non-targeted animals and human’s health. Pesticidal plants
such as B. pilosa, L. camara, T. vogelii, V. amygdalina, L. javanica, T. diversifolia, and C. dichogamus which are
available in most parts of Africa where the crop is cultivated, possess
bioactive chemicals which have insecticidal properties and have been revealed
to be potential in the control of field and storage insect pests. Therefore,
they can be used as an alternative to synthetic pesticides. Bambara groundnuts
being one of the neglected crops, the insects affecting the crop have not been
well explored in terms of their abundance and damage they cause to the crop in
the field and on storage. Thus, in this review, the common arthropod pests of
the bambara groundnuts and the potential of the bioactive compounds from the
common plants with pesticidal properties have been described. It is recommended
that the potential of these pesticidal plants to be investigated on bambara
groundnut pests control on the field and on storage to optimize their use by
smallholder farmers in insect control to reduce dependence on synthetic
pesticides.