TITLE:
Production of low cost Bacillus thuringiensis based-biopesticide for management of chickpea pod-borer Helicoverpa armigera (Huebn) in Pakistan
AUTHORS:
Abida Bibi, Khalique Ahmed, Najma Ayub, Sadia Alam
KEYWORDS:
Beef Blood; Molasses; Indigenous B.t. Isolate PA-Sb-46.3; Sporulation; Entomotoxicity; Biopesticide
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Science,
Vol.5 No.11,
November
4,
2013
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 1st 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.