Virulence of the endophytic fungus, Trichoderma asperellum, against the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stal)

Abstract

The brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) is the main pest on rice plants. The pest attack causes rice plants to become dry, brownish, and burnt. Brown planthoppers (BPH) can be controlled in various ways, such as by applying the endophytic fungus, Trichoderma asperellum. The study aimed to determine the virulence of five T. asperellum isolates against brown planthoppers. The study was conducted in a completely randomized design with six treatments and five replications. The treatment used T. asperellum isolates, namely SD327, PC21, A116, SD34, S2D11, and control. The concentration of Trichoderma used was 108 conidia/ml. The ANOVA and 5% LSD were used to analyze the data. The results showed that T. asperellum isolates could infect nymphs and adults of BPH. T. asperellum virulence in nymphs showed that all isolates had the same ability to kill the nymphs (40–48%). The percentage of emerged adults was lower in the PC211 isolate (214%). Applying T. asperellum to adults of BPH caused mortality between 30% - 46%. The highest adult mortality was recorded in the PC211 isolate with the mortality rate of 46% with an LT of 9.224 days. These isolate that was most effective in controlling the BPH population.