Current status and future prospects of three bioinsecticides developed in Colombia

The increasing thrust towards sustainable agriculture has led to biopesticides emerging from their status as a fringe sector to being viewed as a crucial component of Integrated Pest Management. However factors as variability of field performance, market size, spectrum of pests affected by biopesticides and the costs of production can potentially affect the economic feasibility of any given biological. Formulation is a major hurdle to the development of biopesticides and a vital aspect to reduce inconsistency of field performance due to the effect of unfavorable environments; it can also enhance survival of the bio-agent, control rates of release, and improve bioactivity, shelf life, and stability. This work summarizes the efforts and successes toward formulations of bioinsecticides based upon fungi and viruses. Different formulations based on a variety of Colombian isolates such as Lecanicillium lecanii (dispersible granules) that control whiteflies, Metarhizium anisopliae (wettable powder) to the locust Rhammatocerus schistocercoides control, and finally a multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (SfMNPV) (microencapsulated) to control Spodoptera frugiperda were developed.   The progress in mass production through fermentation (fungi), in vivo production (baculovirus), and formulation of these products, which were protected from sunlight radiation (ultraviolet B wavelengths) were instrumental in the high efficacy observed under greenhouse and field crops. Research efforts are in progress to extend their usage to different crops and zones in Colombia.