Title: PATHOGENICITY OF ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGI TO WHITE GRUBS OF MAIZE BASED CROPPING SYSTEM IN NEPAL
Abstract: White grubs are increasingly important pests of cereal and cash crops in Nepal. The situation is also aggravated by the fact that they are one of the most difficult insect pests to manage due to high levels of insecticide resistance. An alternative method with insect pathogenic fungal based antagonists was sought. Series of activities were conducted in this regard since the mid of 2002 at Tribhuvan Unversity, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (IAAS), Rampur and in farmers’ fields in Nepal. Several dozens of isolates of the insect pathogenic fungi, Metarhizium anisopliae (green muscardine fungus) and more than half a dozen of Beauveria bassiana (white muscardine fungus) were recovered from infested soil and diseased insects using a selective medium and the Galleria bait method (GBM). Isolation, maintenance, mass production and efficacy tests with M. anisopliae were conducted under captivity. A three-tired screening strategies; exploration of the indigenous fungal based bioagents, screening of the virulence under captivity and field tests was initiated with M. anisopliae. With the preliminary screening, four isolates namely, M1, M6, M18 and M48 being identified as pathogenic for pests larvae (Anomola sp and Xylotrupes gidion) at concentrations of 10 5 and 10 7 spores/ml. Mass production in barley kernels was achieved into autoclavable polybags and however, field tests are under way in different locations of farmers field in Nepal.
Publication Year: 2004
Publication Date: 2004-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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