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Mr Ronnie Dotaona
PhD Student
School School of Agricultural & Wine Sciences
Location Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga
Phone 02 6933 2749
Email rdotaona@csu.edu.au
Project
The use of Metarhizium anisopliae as a biological control agent against sweet potato weevil, Cylas formicarius Fabr. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Papua New Guinea.
Summary
Sweet potato is a dominant food crop in Papua New Guinea (PNG); however, infestations of pests and diseases cause large yield losses annually. Sweet potato weevil (SPW) is the most destructive pest of sweet potato, as both the adult and larva directly feed on the underground tubers. At high infestation levels, tubers become unfit for human consumption.
Previous attempts to integrate cultural and chemical methods to control SPW have had little or no success. Several entomogenous fungi including Metarhizium anisopliae have been integrated with other methods of control in managing the pest, but there is no record of its use with SPW in PNG. The aim of this study is to investigate the use of M. anisopliae as a biological control agent for SPW, and the tritrophic relationship between crop, host and pathogen.
Supervisors
Professor Gavin Ash, Dr Mark Stevens, Dr Bree Wilson, Dr Jo Holloway
Funding source
ACIAR (John Allwright Fellowship)