| dc.description.abstract | The cultivation of coffee has taken on great importance in the province of Morona Santiago,
partially due to the project “Reactivación del Café y Cacao Fino de Aroma,” promoted by the
MAG. However, coffee growers in this area seek to improve their income by producing
specialty coffee - one of these being organic coffee. Crop losses caused by the Hypothenemus
hampei insect are high. To combat this, the use of entomopathogenic organisms as an
alternative to integrated pest management can be satisfactory. Beauveria spp. encompasses
one of the most effective genera of entomopathogenic fungi for pest control; therefore, the
present research work evaluates Beauveria spp. as a biocontroller for H. hampei. Borers
infected with Beauveria spp. in 13 farms, corresponding to the Morona Canton parishes
Cuchaentza, General Proaño, San Isidro, Sinaí and Sevilla Don Bosco, were isolated by direct
sowing of the mycelium in petri dishes with a potato dextrose agar culture medium. For
morphological identification at the macroscopic level, the following elements were evaluated:
shape, elevation, texture of the mycelium and the front and back color, surface, and the
presence of sinnemas. As for the microscopic level, the following were evaluated: length of
conidiophores, phialides, and size of conidia. The biocontrol ability was determined by means
of a bioassay at the laboratory level, in which adults of H. hampei were inoculated with a
solution of Beauveria spp. at a concentration of 1x107 conidia/ml. Percentage of mortality was
determined over a period of 15 days and the lethal time set at 50%. Strains 1, 6, 41 and 53
experienced higher percentages of mortality throughout the experiment with respect to the
control. | |
