In-vitro Compatibility of Entomopathogenic Fungi with Synthetic Insecticides and Neem Oil Dhanya MK, Sathyan T*, Murugan M, Ashokkumar K, Surya R Cardamom Research Station, Pampadumpara, Idukki, 685 553, Kerala, India *Corresponding author E-mail: entosathyan@gmail.com
Online published on 8 January, 2020. Abstract The results of in-vitro study to investigate interaction of twenty two insecticides, at field recommended and double doses, on the growth of four different entomo-pathogenic fungi viz. Paecilomyces lilacinus, Lecanicillium lecanii, Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana are reported. With the recommended and double doses of insecticides, B. bassiana showed the highest compatibility with spinosad. Neem oil caused minimal growth inhibition (6.95%) of L. lecanii. Spinosad was also found to be compatible with M. anisopliae by least mycelia suppression (13.16%). Fipronil, chlorantraniliprole, diafenthiuron and emamectin benzoate were found to be less detrimental to M. anisopliae with growth suppression ranging from 21.06–27.06 per cent. All the insecticides except chlorantraniliprole at the recommended dose inhibited greatly the in-vitro mycelial growth of P. lilacinus. Among the chemicals evaluated at double dose, only chlorantraniliprole and fipronil were found to have high compatibility with M. anisopliae (with less than 25% inhibition) over control. Top Keywords Synthetic insecticides, neem oil, bio-agents, compatibility, in-vitro study. Top |