Pest control for Jatropha curcas plant through viral disease: A mathematical approach

  • Jahangir Chowdhury
  • Fahad Al Basir
  • Joydeep Pal
  • Priti Kumar Roy

Abstract

Renewable energy has an enormous importance for social development and it access to energy which is closely linked with economic uplift of the community. The oil-containing seeds of Jatropha curcas plant, a shrub prevalent in many countries, were recently rediscovered as a possible feedstock for biodiesel production. Jatropha plants is affected by many type of pest, among them there are some major pests (less than ten type) which are responsible for flower and fruit abortion. Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (NPV) are belonging to the family of Baculovirus, which are often host specific and usually fatal for the pests invading Jatropha crop. This virus spreads among the pest only and the infected pest can replicate virus. The predator consumes the infected prey only due to tradeoff cost which is beneficial to the plant irrespective of the degree of infection. Taking account of the ecological and functional relation among the pest, predator, virus and the plant, we formulate a five dimensional nonlinear system for Jatropha pest management with application of viral pesticide and extermination of natural pest of Jatropha. In the present work we applied the pesticide in a single
foliar application and notice that the pest extermination is not fully achieved. Hence, we apply the same pesticide in a periodic interval till pest exist in the system. We hypothesize that impulsively spraying of viral pesticide may help to eradicate the pest of Jatropha. Our model is rigorously tested under strict analytical and numerical exploratory analysis reveals the short periodic application of pesticide is most beneficial for the health of the plant. The numerical results are also supported by our analytical findings.

Published
2016-11-30
Section
Articles