Functional and Quality Assessment of a Spore Harvester for Entomopathogenic Fungi for Biopesticide Production

The Green Revolution led to an increased use of synthetic pesticides, causing environmental pollution. As alternative, biopesticides made from entomopathogenic agents such as fungi have been sought. This study aimed design and evaluate the performance a harvester machine for efficiently collecting spores Metarhizium anisopliae Beauveria bassiana grown on rice corn substrates. spore yield was estimated, count colony-forming unit (CFU) were performed. Statistical analysis conducted compare mean values obtained different combinations solid substrate fungi. Corn-Metarhizium combination produced 34.15 g per kg 1.51 × 109 CFUs mL−1. Similarly, Rice-Metarhizium 57.35 1.59 Meanwhile, Corn-Beauveria yielded 35.47 1.00 mL−1, while Rice-Beauveria had 38.26 4.50 108 Based reported results, appears be most effective, yielding highest number harvested substrate. estimated total cost approximately $409.31 manufacturing harvester, considering only materials. These results could potentially increase availability affordability in integrated pest management.