Performance of phytosanitary products for control of soybean caterpillar.

Abstract The present work evaluated the efficiency of applied biological control and chemical control of Chrysodeixis includens, and the management of this looper caterpillar in the field soybean crop. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design, consisting of six treatments applied only once: two different doses of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), 0.2 and 0.35 L ha-1; Metarhizium rileyi strain UFMS 02 (Mr), 2.0 and 5.0 kg ha-1; insecticide Flubendiamide (Fd) 20 mL ha-1; and the control. The reduction of the pest and the percentage of efficiency of the products along the development of the soybean, besides some phytotechnical parameters, were evaluated thirteen days after the application. In general, there was a decrease in the number of caterpillars after thirteen days of spraying, with the Bt treatment being 350 mL ha-1, which provided the greatest reduction in the population (96.2%) when compared to the control (6.7 %). Regarding efficiency, treatments containing biological products Bt (two doses) and Mr 5.0 kg ha-1 provided the best results: 95.88, 84.69 and 92.35%, respectively. Among the phytotechnical parameters evaluated, the biological treatments were superior to the chemical treatments in relation to the productivity and the number of pods per plant, not differing statistically among them.