Abstract

         Corn serves as one of the staple crops produced and locally sourced in Daet, Camarines Norte. In one of its major corn outsourcing Barangay, San Isidro, corn plantations are taking a toll due to the infestation of Fall Armyworms. Moreover, these pests can develop immunity against commercially used chemical-based insecticides. This prompted the researchers to develop a phytoinsecticide against fall armyworm by extractingtoxic components from Marigold leaves, Neem seed, and Gale of the wind such as sterols, triterpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, glycosides, and tannins, the most promising substances in pest management. Three formulated treatments were developed and tested in a bioassay experimentation to assess the effectiveness in terms of mortality rate and duration of effectivity. Analysis of variance (ANOVA-Single Factor Analysis) was used to compute and analyze the significant difference of each formulation wherein treatment 3 produced the highest sum of 30 and an  average of 10, and the lowest variance of 0. Therefore, treatment 3, the most effective formulation, was considered to be used for the direct application on corn stalks infested with fall armyworm in infield experimentation to determine the effectivity under environmental conditions. Furthermore, ANOVA showed no significant difference between the bioassay and infield experimentation since the treatments were both able to eliminate fall armyworms in both scenarios. Moreover, the delevoped treatments also proved their efficacy compared to the negative control since the negative control did not result in any mortality, thereby, further emphasizing that the fall armyworms did not die from stress or environmental factors. All in all, the developed phytoinsecticide from marigold leaves, neem seed, and gale of the wind extract presented promising results as a potential alternative organic insecticide with a high success rate in combating fall armyworm infestation that can greatly aid farmers for better management of their corn plantations as well as to enhance their crop production.