A Review of Entomopathogenic Fungi of Iraq

Abstract

Insect pest management has been dominated by the use of synthetic pesticides since early 1950s. However, lately this control method is not widely accepted due to an increase in environmental awareness, food safety concerns and the increasing number of insecticide-resistant species. In Iraq, the chemical insect pest control is still a dominant control method regardless of the increased pressure to replace it gradually with environment friendly alternatives such as predators, parasitoids, nematodes and entomopathogenic fungi. In Iraq, there is an increasing volume of research that has used different genus and species of entomopathogenic fungi for controlling several agricultural pests. However, these efforts are not yet reflected in the industry. In this short review article, a detailed summary of the research that has been done with entomopathogenic fungi in Iraq since 2000 is given and a brief discussion of the potential of using entomopathogenic fungi on a large scale in Iraq, its challenges, and recommendations is presented.

Efficacy of bio-pesticide Lecanicillium lecanii against soybean-sucking bugs Riptortus linearis during field application

“…However, despite its potential to regulate the pest, the application of L. lecanii still does not meet expectations related to the stress of abiotic factors in the field, especially temperature and sunlight (Kaiser et al 2018;Mantzoukas et al 2020;Alhadidi 2023;Ferreira and Soares 2023). Exposure to temperatures outside the optimum range of fungi can inhibit conidial germination (Wu et al 2020), reduce conidia viability (Coucéiro et al 2021), and slow penetration into the host (Wu et al 2020).…”