Spodoptera litura Fabr. Control Using Beauveria bassiana to Reduce Pest Damage Intensity and Maintain the Yield of Soybean

Abstract

Soybean production has not been able to meet Indonesian needed. The production decreases every year due to the Spodoptera litura attack. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Beauveria bassiana as a biological agent in controlling S.litura attacks in the field. The research was conducted at the Pest Laboratory of the Department of Agrotechnology, UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung and in Cileunyi Bandung, West Java, from January to March 2017. The experiment used Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with eight B. bassiana spores density treatments with three replications. These treatments, i.e., negative control, positive control, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, and 1010/ml aquadest applied to S. litura instar II larva. The post-hoc test used was Duncan's Multiple Range Test of 5%. The results showed that the density of B. bassiana spores in 1010/ml aquadest caused mortality of S. litura larva at 76.67%. B. bassiana spores in 1010/ml aquadest was able to maintain the growth of soybean plants with pest damage intensity of 3.81%, maintained photosynthates to seeds with the value harvest index of 0.42 and the seed weight per plant reached 31.64 g. B. bassiana can be used as an entomopathogen in controlling attacks by Spodoptera litura.