Vol. 9, Special Issue 11, Part F (2025)

The present study entitled “Effect of different strains of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschn.) Sorokin against white grub in laboratory and pot culture conditions” was conducted during 2024-25 at the Bio-control Laboratory and Entomology Section, RCSM College of Agriculture, Kolhapur. The experiment comprised five treatments including four strains of M. anisopliae [Grub Guard, Kalichakra, Protectam, NBAIR-Ma4] and an untreated control, each replicated four times under a Completely Randomized Design. In the laboratory experiment, larval mortality ranged from 0.00 to 82.50% at 7, 15, and 30 days after treatment (DAT), with M. anisopliae (NBAIR-Ma4) recording the highest efficacy (82.50%), followed by Grub Guard (80.00%), Kalichakra (60.00%), and Protectam (50.00%). In the pot culture experiment, mortality ranged from 0.00 to 75.00%, with NBAIR-Ma4 again superior (75.00%), followed by Grub Guard (72.50%), Kalichakra (52.50%), and Protectam (42.50%). In the pot culture experiment 0.00 to 75 percent mortality of the white grub was observed at 7 DAT, 15DAT and 30 DAT. The efficacy of biopesticides against white grub infesting sugarcane under pot culture experiment revealed that M. anisopliae (NBAIR-Ma4) was the most effective in controlling white grub with 75.00 percent of total mortality followed by treatment with M. anisopliae (Grub Guard) 72.50 percent total larval mortality followed by treatment M.anisopliae (Kalichakra) with 52.50 percent total larval mortality. The treatments M. anisopliae (Protectam) performed consistently less with 42.50 percent total mortality while the control treatment recorded no mortality. All strains were significantly superior over untreated control. Overall, M. anisopliae (NBAIR-Ma4) proved most effective and may serve as a promising biocontrol agent against white grubs under integrated pest management strategies.