Resumen

MONTILLA, Rafael; CAMACHO, Belkis; QUINTERO, Amparo  y  CARDOZO, Gloria. Parasitism by Beauveria bassiana on the coffee berry borer, in Trujillo, Venezuela. Agronomía Trop. [online]. 2006, vol.56, n.2, pp.183-198. ISSN 0002-192X.

In order to control the damage caused by the coffee berry borer (CBB) Hypothenemus hampei Ferrari in Trujillo and to select an entomopathogen adapted to our agroclimatics conditions, strains of Beauveria bassiana were evaluated during the period of June, 2003 until December, 2004, using a randomized block desing, with four treatments (isolate 01, isolate 03, isolate 09 and a control) and five repetitions. The native isolates of the state were donated by the Laboratory of Plant Pathology of the University of the Andes (ULA). Evaluations and applications of the fungus were carried out every 15 and 30 days respectively, beginning 100 days after flowering until shortly after the crop harvest. In a sample of 200 grains the percentage of infestation by coffee berry borer (CBB) and parasitism by the fungi were determined initially for each year. A statistical analysis was carried out utilizing descriptive statistics through the program InfoStat. Results indicated that no significant differences existed among the treatments (P≤0,05). The percentages of CBB and initial parasitism were: in the 2003: 2% and 0%; and in 2004: 2,5% and 0%, respectively. The presence of parasitism in the control, suggests the versatility of the mushroom to infest healthy CBB in different places, as well as its adaptation to the agroclimatic conditions of the coffee crop of the region. The early application of B. bassiana, in the process of fructification and of semi milky grain consistency, contributed to maintain the infestation levels below 5%.

Palabras clave : Beauveria bassiana; biological control; coffee Berry Borer (CBB); Entomopathogen; management integrated of plagues.