Banana: fungus selected by the IB controls banana borer, the main crop pest

Banana producers in São Paulo and throughout Brazil rely on a fungus selected by the São Paulo State Department of Agriculture and Supply, through the Biological Institute (IB-APTA), for the biological control of an important crop pest: the banana borer. The fungus selected by the IB, called Beauveria bassiana, is a natural enemy of the pest, so it performs the control without the need for the producer to apply chemical products. According to the coordinator of the São Paulo Agribusiness Technology Agency (APTA), Antonio Batista Filho, the banana borer is one of the main crop pests, responsible for reducing plant productivity by 30%. "The IB selected the fungus Beauveria bassiana for the control of this pest. The IBCB66 strain is used by producers throughout the country, including in organic production", says Batista Filho, who has been a researcher at the IB for 37 years and has always worked in biological control . According to Batista Filho, the first manifestations of borer ...