Field Evaluation of Microbial Biocontrol Agents for the Management of Sugarcane Borers under Faisalabad Conditions

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Sugarcane Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan, during 2020–21 to evaluate microbial biocontrol agents against sugarcane borers in spring-sown sugarcane cv. CPF 247. Seven treatments comprising Bacillus thuringiensis in granular and wettable-powder formulations, Metarhizium anisopliae, a baculovirus formulation, a microbial mixture, chlorantraniliprole + thiamethoxam, and an untreated control were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Tiller infestation was assessed during the tillering period and borer injury was quantified at harvest through top-, stem-, root- and cumulative internode damage. The treatment means ranged from 1.471 to 12.609% for tiller infestation and from 2.322 to 11.956% for cumulative internode damage. The treatment effects were highly significant for tiller infestation (F6,12 = 294.253, P < 0.001; CV = 5.32%) and cumulative internode damage (F6,12 = 527.754, P < 0.001; CV = 4.78%). Fisher's LSD separated the tiller-infestation means into six groups and cumulative internode-damage means into five groups. Bt granular treatment had the lowest mean for tiller infestation (1.471%), whereas baculovirus had the lowest cumulative internode damage (2.322%). Relative to the untreated control, the corresponding reductions were 88.3% and 80.6%. The results demonstrate marked endpoint-specific differences among microbial agents.