Phytosanitary optimization of agricultural ecosystems under conditions of glasshouses and organic farming urgently demands guaranteed effect of plant protection. This can be achieved only through effective exploitation of a complex of biological agents, including arthropod predators and parasites, entomopathogenic fungi, nematodes and other microbes. Entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana and Lecanicillium muscarium are characterized by facultative parasitism and possess high potential to control phytophagous insects, including pests of vegetable crops in glasshouses. In aphids, fungal pathogenesis was found to be comprised of primary mycosis and toxigenic post-effect in a row of consequent generations. For example, L. muscarium and B. bassiana had an adverse effect on fertility and survival rates of females of aphids Aphis gossypii up to the fifth generation. The longevity, reproductive period and amount of progeny were decreased in aphids treated with water suspension of fungal conidia. It can be deduced that the post-effect is caused by toxic action of metabolites as no evident mycosis was observed in the experiments. Similar type of after-effect is observed in the lacewing Chrysopa carnea contaminated with fungal conidia. The effect is also toxigenic being most prominent in the first generation of the survivors’ progeny and traceable up to the fifth generation. The consequences of the infection are best seen in the rate adult emergence which is twice as low as compared to control. This knowledge is essential to avoid antagonism between different groups of natural enemies exploited in biological control and to design adequate technology for their application.
The paper presents data on a comparative test of the efficacy of chemical, fungal and bacterial fungicides in limiting the harmfulness of main diseases of spring wheat. The research was carried out on leached chernozem of the forest-steppe of Priobye of the Novosibirsk region. It was shown that Sternifag, SP reduces the development of root rot at the end of the growing season by 48 %, which is comparable to the effect of a chemical dressing agent Scarlet, ME (imazalil+tebuconazole) and is slightly inferior to the action of combined application of fungal preparation Trichocin, SP with the bacterial preparation Vitaplan, SP (55 %). Preplanting seed treatment effectively reduced the development of leaf infections: Scarlet, ME suppressed the development of Septoria blotch by 54 %, Scarlet, ME + Vitaplan, SP – of powdery mildew by 69 %, Trichotsin,SP + Vitaplan, SP – of brown rust by 74 %. Fungicide Titul 390, KKR reduced the development of these diseases by 60, 81 and 85 %, respectively. Alirin-B, W with Trichocin, SP suppressed brown rust by 64 %. Cellulolytic activity increased 1.3–1.9 times compared to the control as a result of the action of biological products and Sternifag, SP. The amount of plant residues decreased 2.4 and 1.9 times 15 and 30 days after application. The greatest increase in yield was provided by chemical fungicides – 0.7 t / ha, they were not inferior to the use of Alirin-B, W with Vitaplan, SP against the background of etching with Scarlet, ME fungicide.
The peculiarities of agriculture technologies in modern greenhouse cause complications in screening of natural enemies, because of increasing the requirements for their adaptive abilities, feasibility of cost-effective mass production, long-term storage and transportation. To be effective in greenhouses species should start breeding as quickly as possible as pest hot spots have appeared. Adopted for greenhouses natural enemies have mainly ruderal life strategy. Regular invasions of new phytophages have an impact on plant protection systems. At the same time, the programs for the introduction of new natural enemies have been stopped due to the potential negative impact of the introduced species on the biodiversity of indigenes species communities. The review analyses the changes in screening of natural enemies that occurred as a result of the introduction of new crop production technologies and the complication of the phytosanitary situation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.