Abstract
A two year field experiment was designed to evaluate the economic viability of Chilli Pepper and Neem Kernel based powdered formulations vis-à-vis Sevin Dust (85%) in controlling stem borer damage on Sorghum variety (KSV4) in 2009 and 2010 using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The botanicals evaluated are Chilli Pepper Powder (CPP), CPP + Fine sand (1:1, w/w), Neem Kernel Powder (NKP) and, NKP + Fine sand (1:1, w/w). The results shows that the botanical pesticides significantly (p<0.05) perform better than the synthetic in reducing stem boring. The grain yield were significantly (p<0.05) higher on the treated plots over the untreated, the results further reveals that there was no significant difference between the botanicals and the synthetic used even though NKP + Fine sand gave the overall best yield. The economic analysis also shows that it was profitable and economically viable to use any of the pesticides in controlling stem borers on sorghum since all the pesticides gave a ratio of more than one. It is noteworthy also that, NKP + Fine sand gave the highest cost: benefit ratio of 1:5.76 and 1:5.48 in 2009 and 2010, respectively followed by CPP and Fine sand while Sevin 85% gave the least cost: benefit ratio of 1:2.48 and 1:2.40 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The cost: benefit analysis was strictly based on the cost of plant protection only and did not consider factors such as potential impact on natural enemies/non-targets, the environment, farm workers and consumer safety, the overall results shows that Neem Kernel and Chilli Pepper based botanicals (and most outstandingly, NKP + Fine sand) can be useful components of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of Sorghum Stem borers and may serve as viable alternatives to the synthetics which have been identified to have several environmental and health implications.

Key words: Yield, Botanical Pesticide, Synthetic Pesticide