Efficacy of Cashew Nutshell Extract against Termite Attack on Triplochiton scleroxylon Wood

This study investigated the efficacy of cashew nutshell extract against termite attack on Triplochiton scleroxylon wood in other to add to the quest for readily available and cost-effective pest control materials, specifically on termite attack on wood. The study was carried out at Entomology Laboratory, Federal College of Forestry Jos in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state, Nigeria, between April and May 2015. Some prepared wood billets were used as control/untreated (A), while others were treated with cashew nutshell extract in concentrations of 10% (B), 20% (C), 30% (D) and 40% (E) giving all together five (5) treatments which were replicated five (5) times to give a total of twenty five (25) billets. Both treated and untreated wood billets were taken to a selected area that is prone to termite attack by digging holes and placing billets in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) for eight (8) weeks. After the duration of exposure, wood billets were removed and data was taken for number of termite present at point of removal on each billet, degree of attack, number of furrows and length of furrows and all the data were subjected to the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using the SPSS 16.0 package. Latin Square Design (LSD) was further conducted to examine the condition that was responsible for the difference. The result showed that the effects of number of termite present on billets are not significantly different between means. The effect of means percentage on degree of attack showed no significant difference among the treatments 20%, 30% and 40% but showed significant difference with the control and 10%, so also in number of furrows. Observations on the length of furrows showed that control (untreated) was significantly difference from other treatment means. This result led to the conclusion that cashew nutshell extract has pesticidal effects against termite attack on Triplochiton scleroxylon wood with treatment E (40%) having the highest effects.