Potential of turmeric essential oil and wood vinegar for controlling golden apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata

Abstract The golden apple snail ( Pomacea canaliculata ), a highly invasive species, poses a substantial threat to rice crops and causes significant economic losses in wetland rice cultivation, threatening biodiversity and impacting human health. Pomacea canaliculata attacks cause significant losses, accounting for approximately 80% of rice production. The use of chemical molluscicides became a common practice among the farmers to control the golden apple snail’s outbreak, despite its harm to the environment and health. Biopesticide was an alternative way of controlling the golden apple snail with minimal effect on the environment and human health. In addition, essential oils as biopesticides have a high potency as an eco-friendly pesticide for controlling invasive apple snails, which can be used to replace chemical pesticides. This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and the toxicity of turmeric essential oil and wood vinegar against golden apple snail. The bioassay test on golden apple snails was tested on varied concentrations (200, 400, and 600 ppm) of turmeric essential oil and wood vinegar, with three replications for each treatment. Mortality rates were recorded at 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours after treatment. The highest mortality rate of golden apple snails for turmeric essential oil (600 ppm) is 83.3% and wood vinegar (600 ppm) is 76.6% recorded at 120 hours after treatment. Based on the one-way ANOVA analysis of turmeric essential oil and wood vinegar application, it was resulted significant difference in mean mortality of golden apple snails (F (7, 92) = 3.650, p = 0.002). Tukey’s HSD Test for multiple comparisons found that the mean value of golden apple snail mortality was significantly different between turmeric (600 ppm) and wood vinegar (200 ppm) (p = 0.012, 95% C.I. = 0.4172, 5.8494). Both biopesticides showed a mode of action leading to mortality but turmeric essential oil is strongly recommended for biopesticide applications to prevent golden apple snail infestations. Thus, the essential oil of turmeric has a good potential as an effective molluscicide compared to wood vinegar for controlling golden apple snails.