Study of bio-efficacy of entomopahogenic fungi for suppression of termite incidence in maiz

Abstract

Extensive use of chemical insecticides for termite management has lead to hazardous residual impact on plant health. Moreover, they are very expensive and also toxic to human beings. Therefore, there is a demand to develop an alternative safe economic and eco-friendly bio agent to control the termite population under maize field condition. In the present investigation, the bio-agents i.e. Beauveria bassiana, Metarrhizium anisopliae and Paecilomyces fumosoroseus were used @ 5x10 13 spore /ha and @ 5x10 13 spore /ha FYM to enrich formulation and all the bio-agents have shown the promising results in in vivo in suppression of termite population in maize field. Similarly, the antagonistic fungi improved the germination as well as reduced the plant mortality caused by termite and improved the yield of maize as compared to untreated control. Result of entire study indicated a possibility of obtaining a powerful suppression of termite population by using plant beneficial bio-agents.

Termites and Chinese agricultural system: applications and advances in integrated termite management and chemical control

“…Rana and Kachhawa tested the spores of three fungi species (M. anisopliae, B. bassiana and Paecilomyces fumosoroseus) with farmyard manure (FYM) separately, for in vivo suppression of termites in a maize field. According to them, the soil applied with FYM + fungi spores at the time of sowing of the maize crop, provided better germination, yield and plant survival as compared to control (Rana & Dinesh, 2014). Pandey et al (2013) and Wright and La (2013) described that the extensive exposure of Aspergillus sp.…”