Evaluación de la capacidad antagónica de Metarhizium anisopliae microencapsulada frente a Phyllophaga spp

Abstract

The Castilla blackberry is a fruit with high nutritional and commercial value in Ecuador, but it is affected by insect pests such as Phyllophaga spp, it feeds on roots and allows the entry of pathogenic microorganisms such as Fusarium, Phytophthora and Rhizoctonia, generating rot in the roots. and plant death. The control of this pest has been demonstrated with the use of entomopathogenic fungi such as Metarhizium anisopliae, however, its effectiveness in the field is affected by abiotic factors, found in microencapsulation a technique that allows this fungus to be protected and enhanced. The research allowed the growth and sporulation of conidia of M. anisopliae in vitro in Petri dishes, microencapsulation was by spray drying with maltodextrin and gum arabic and ionic gelation with sodium alginate and calcium chloride. 9 treatments were applied with the encapsulates, the larvae were placed in a humidity chamber and infected with 1 milligram per larva to be evaluated over a period of 7 days. 270 larvae of the genus Phyllophaga spp were found, for its control the best treatment was ionic gelation with a concentration of 1 by ten to 9, with the highest number of infected larvae on the fourth day and a severity of 52.38 percent and the least effective treatment corresponded to spray drying with a concentration of 1 to 10 to 5 on the fourth day and presented an infection severity of 34.28 percent.