Location: Crop Bioprotection Research
Project Number: 5010-22410-019-006-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jun 1, 2020
End Date: Sep 30, 2021
Objective:
Determining the efficacy of selected biopestide strains as post phytosanitation treatment to suppress ambrosia beetles in avocado groves affected by laurel wilt.
Approach:
The field experiment will use fermented logs as the experimental unit. Avocado cv. Booth 7 bolts (30.0 ± 0.4 cm long × 9.0 ± 0.1 cm dia.) will be submerged in water for 7 days and allowed to dry for one day before applying the microbial pesticides. The treatments will consist of 3 microbial strains, 1 microbial formulation and a water treated control. All biopesticides will be applied with a backpack sprayer at label recommended rates and the sclerotia formulation at an equivalent concentration. Treated bolts will be deployed (hung from avocado trees) in avocado affected by laurel wilt. The bolts will be exposed to ambrosia beetle after phytosanitation practices are conducted in the grove. Two weeks after field exposure, the bolts will be retrieved form the groves and placed separately in plastic containers to determine the number of beetle attacks per bolt and the emergence of ambrosia beetles during the following 90 days. Ambrosia beetles will be identified and separated by species. The treatments will be replicated 10 times and the experiment repeated in two separate groves.
