The pesticides used in management of sugarcane can affect the action of entomopathogenic fungi used for biological control of pests. The objective of this work was to investigate if the insecticides, herbicides and ripeners used in management of sugarcane have toxic effect on the fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae. The insecticides used were thiamethoxan, aldicarb and fipronil, the herbicides imazapyr, diuron, metribuzin, hexazinone+diuron, clomazone+ametryn, 2,4 dichlorophenoxyacetic and glyphosate, the ripeners ethyl-trinexapac, sulfometuron-methyl and also glyphosate. The fungi were grown in potato dextrose agar medium containing chemical pesticide. Micelial growth, production and viability of conidia were evaluated, as well as the toxicity of the chemical pesticides. The thiamethoxan insecticide was considered compatible, because it did not affect the micelial growth, production and conidial viability of both fungi. The fipronil insecticide was partially toxic to the fungi, being considered moderately compatible, whereas aldicarb was considered toxic. Most of the evaluated herbicides affected the growth, production and conidial viability of both entomophatogenic fungi and were classified as toxic, but those formulated with imazapyr, glyphosate and metribuzin were considered compatible. Among the ripeners analyzed only glyphosate was classified as compatible. The chemical pesticides used in management of sugarcane and evaluated in this work have toxic effect on the fungi B. bassiana and M. anisopliae, which can compromise its action as bioagents of pest control.
biocontrol; Beauveria bassiana; Metarhizium anisopliae; Saccharum sp; compatibility; toxicity
