Influence of spraying techniques on the efficacy of Beauveria bassiana-based mycoinsecticide against chilli and tomato thrips

Use of fungal entomopathogens can be an alternative to insecticides and could help in bio-intensive pest management. Entomopathogenic fungi may be used for chilli thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood and tomato thrips, Thrips tabaci Lindeman control. Field experiments were conducted with an oil formulation of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin fungal isolate @ 10 8 spores · mL −1 against chilli and tomato thrips. Several delivery systems were tested. Two field experiments conducted on chilli indicated that the Bb 112 oil-based formulation applied with a Controlled Droplet Applicator (CDA) sprayer produced the highest reduction of 54.12% and 48.82% thrips, respectively. For tomato thrips, the field trials indicated that Bb 112 oil formulation applied with CDA sprayer was significantly higher than the other treatments with 55.07% and 52.36% reduction, respectively . Therefore, one can notice that the synergism of the association between fungus and oil indicate its potential against the target pest in the field.