Production of low cost Bacillus thuringiensis based-biopesticide for management of chickpea pod-borer Helicoverpa armigera (Huebn) in Pakistan

Abida Bibi, Khalique Ahmed, Najma Ayub, Sadia Alam

Department of Microbiology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Departmentof Microbiology, University of Haripur, Haripur, Pakistan.
KarakuramUniversity, Gilgit, Pakistan.

DOI: 10.4236/ns.2013.511140                

Abstract

The biopesticide was prepared from locally available low cost ingredients: dried beef blood, molasses and mineral salts (ZnCl₂, MgCl₂, MnCl₂, CaCl₂CaCl₂, and FeCl₃) which were used as medium for the laboratory scale production of Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) bio-pesticide by shake flask technique. Indigenous B.t. isolate PA-Sb- 46.3 which produced two crystals—bi-pyramidal and cuboidal was found 73.6 times toxic against H. armigera than reference strain Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (HD-I-S-1980) used. Medium was fermented for 72 hours at 30℃ ± 2℃ and 160 rpm. 72 h fermented medium showed 95% - 99% sprulation, with spore yield of 3.97 × 10⁹ spores/ml, and LC₅₀ value to 1^st instar larvae of H. armigera was 0.53 μg/ml diet. Preservatives and diluents used in the biopesticide were found to be effective to store at room temperature over a period of 30 months. These observations suggested that the biopesticide produced was effective and highly economical for the industrial scale production to manage H. armigera in Pakistan.

Keywords

Beef Blood; Molasses; Indigenous B.t. Isolate PA-Sb-46.3; Sporulation; Entomotoxicity; Biopesticide

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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