Vol. 12, Special Issue 10 (2023)

Author(s):
J Aruna, DN Kambrekar, Krishnaraj PU, Mallapur CP and Shamarao A Jahagirdar

Abstract:
Investigations were carried out to explore entomopathogenic activity of microbial isolates against fall army worm, Spodoptera frugiperda infesting maize at University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad during Kharif, 2022-23 with five microbial isolates viz. DBT-64, DBT-80, DBT-90, AUUB-209, Neem leaf endophyte and Metarrhizium rileyi along with spinosad 45 SC (Standard check) and control. The results revealed that, among the isolates tested, Streptomyces hyderabadensis (DBT-64) and Streptomyces xiamenensis (DBT-80) at 40 ml/l has excelled over others by recording 76.67 and 73.33 percent mortality of Spodoptera frugiperda at 96 hours after treatments under laboratory condition. Further, median lethal concentration of theses microbial isolates was tested against Spodoptera frugiperda. The results revealed the lowest LC₅₀ value was recorded in Streptomyces hyderabadensis (DBT-64) (29.52 mL/L) with lower and upper limit of 27.04 and 32.21 mL/L followed by Streptomyces xiamenensis (DBT-80) which recorded the LC₅₀ value of 32.21 mL/L with lower and upper limit of 29.41 and 35.26 mL/L. Hence, microbial isolates exhibit potential insecticidal properties, they can be integrated as a component of IPM which is eco-friendly and reliable in sustainable agriculture.