Vol. 11, Issue 9 (2022)

Author(s):
R Chinnadurai, N Balakrishnan, G Preetha, G Ravi and KG Sabarinathan

Abstract:
Invasion of the fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), in India in 2018, resulted in heavy yield losses in maize and poses a great threat to the cultivation of other allied crops. In this study an attempt was made to develop Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), biopesticide formulation(s) and evaluated against the FAW. A native Bt isolate, T15 was used for the preparation of formulation. The colony of the T15 isolate was creamy white in color, flat and irregularly shaped with undulated margins. The T15 isolate produced bipyramidal parasporal inclusions and it was positive for the presence of lepidopteran toxic cry1, cry 1Ac, cry2, cry2Ab and vip3A genes. The liquid formulations were prepared by adding various ingredients with the Bt isolate, after lysis stage of the culture and evaluated against the fall armyworm. The biopesticide formulation prepared using Bt culture broth + Pungam oil 3% + Glycerol 6% + Triton X-100 0.1% performed well against the neonates of the fall armyworm with 96.67% mortality under laboratory conditions.