Entomopathogenic fungi, Metarhizium anisopliae as a chemical substitute for termite pest management in sugarcane

Aim: The present research study was undertaken to assess the efficacy of microbial and natural origin bio-pesticides in comparison to chemical control against termites infesting sugarcane. Methodology: Field trials were executed for a period of three successive seasons i.e., 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 at Sugarcane Research Station, Vuyyuru, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with seven treatments replicated thrice and imposed the treatments as per protocol. A set of four bio-pesticides (Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Bacillus thuringiensis and Azadirachtin) and two insecticides (Imidacloprid and Bifenthrin) were evaluated for their efficacy against termite infestation in terms of both mean number of sugarcane setts infested and mean portion of setts infested by termites. Results: The chemicals imidacloprid and bifenthrin had registered highest per cent reduction of termite infestation over control. However, the biopesticides, Metarhizium anisopliae had registered least per cent reduction of mean number of setts infested with 59.95 at 60 DAP, 62.85 at 90 DAP and 56.03 at 120 DAP and mean portion of setts infested with termite was 56.20 per cent. With respect to yield also the chemical treatments viz., imidacloprid and bifenthrin had recorded higher yields with pooled mean of 77.33 and 76.78 t ha-1, followed by M. anisopliae with 73.94 t ha-1. Interpretation: Even though the chemical based treatments were found superior in reducing termite infestation, entomopathogenic fungi, M. anisopliae as biopesticide also attributed better results with regard to suppression of termite infestation and can be suggested as alternative or substitution to chemical based management. Key words: Chemical control, Entomopathogenic fungi, Metarhizium, Sugarcane, Termites