31 This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. ISSN: 2349-8889 Volume-7, Issue-6 (November 2020) https://doi.org/10.31033/ijrasb.7.6.6 International Journal for Research in Applied Sciences and Biotechnology www.ijrasb.com Evaluation of Brigade-BL (Beauveria bassiana-Entomopathogenic Fungi) Against Leaf Folder/Roller (Hedylepta indicata) in Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) Sandeepa Kanitkar 1 , V. M. Raut 2 , S. P. Taware 3 , Philips Varghese 4 , S. A. Jaybhay 5 , Medha Kulkarni 6 and Meghraj Kadam 7 1 Kan Biosys Pvt. Ltd., Kanitkar Path, F. C. Road, Pune 411004, INDIA 2 Kan Biosys Pvt. Ltd., Kanitkar Path, F. C. Road, Pune 411004, INDIA 3 Agharkar Research Institute, MACS, Agarkar Road, Pune 411004, Maharashtra, INDIA 4 Agharkar Research Institute, MACS, Agarkar Road, Pune 411004, Maharashtra, INDIA 5 Agharkar Research Institute, MACS, Agarkar Road, Pune 411004, Maharashtra, INDIA 6 Kan Biosys Pvt. Ltd., Kanitkar Path, F. C. Road, Pune 411004, INDIA 7 Kan Biosys Pvt. Ltd., Kanitkar Path, F. C. Road, Pune 411004, INDIA 7 Corresponding Author: meghrajkadam@kanbiosys.com ABSTRACT Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is one of the most important oilseed legumes in the world as well as in India, which is attacked byseveral insects, particularly the leaf folder (Hedylepha indicata) causes significant yield losses. Hence, a field bio-efficacy of Brigade-BL (Beauveria bassiana) an entomopathogenic fungi was evaluated against leaf folder of soybean at ARI (MACS) Pune during kharif- 2015 season. Results obtained indicated that Treatment No. T-3 (Two sprayings of Brigade BL @ 2.0 ml/L) treatment resulted in reduction of leaf folder/roller larvae/m upto 45- 39% individually and 95-56% in combination with chemical insecticides. Similarly, spraying of Brigade-BL @ 2.0 ml/L resulted in increase of plant height (7.44%), leaf area (7.68%), Pods/plant (21.40%) harvest index (17.90%) and yield by 19.79% over control and 4.07% over chemical insecticides. Similarly, spraying of Brigade-BL did not show any phytotoxic effect on soybean plants. Keywords- Soybean, Glycine max, liquid bio-insecticide, Brigade-BL, leaf roller/folder, Hedylepta indicata, Beauveria bassiana, phytotoxicity. I. INTRODUCTION Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) now has been established as one of the most important oilseed crop in the world accounting for more than 50% of oilseeds produced and 30% of the total supply of oil vegetable oils. It is unique crop having both high quality protein (40%) and oil (20%) contents. It is also helps in improving soil fertility through nitrogen fixation. The protein from soybean is equivalent to that of meat, milk products and eggs in quality. Soybean is used in formation of low cost nutritionally balanced protein foods and drinks most essential for protein deficient countries. In the ancient times, soybean was used as a medicinal plant in China as a specific remedy for proper functioning of heart, liver, kidneys, and stomach (Kale, 1936). In USA, soybean was used in earlier days as a forage crop in combination with corn. It is one of the most popular protein ingredients in the world in manufacturing of livestock feeds like soybean flakes, soybean beetles for feeding fish, soaps, varnishes, printing inks, paints, enamels, insecticides, leather, greases, wallboards etc. Soybean oil is used in the manufacture of food preparations like cooking oils, salad dressings, sandwiches, vegetable oils, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics etc. Bhatnagar (1986) has reviewed the potentials of soybean for industry and food uses and reported a comparison with other food sources for protein and nutritive value. Soybean was once considered as a crop that had negligible losses due to insect infestation. But over a period of its development in the country, it has become one of the preferred hosts for most of the insect-pests and suffers from severe damage and yield losses. This is one of the major reasons for not realizing full yield potential. Chemical insect control methods have been used by most of the farmers till now. But now, the chemical insecticides are proving inadequate for successful management of major and minor insect pests like pod borer, tobacco caterpillar, leaf folder, Bihar hairy caterpillar and girdle beetle. Hence, it has to be borne in mind that no single approach would provide adequate insect control. Therefore, the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy that provides a sustainable management of most of the damaging insect pest needs to be adopted. Chemical control is commonly practiced by farmers for getting more profits; but continuous utilization of chemical insecticides have created many problems. Only use of chemical control leads to problems of pest resistance, pesticide residue, destruction of beneficial fauna and environmental pollution. Under such circumstances, the use of biological insecticide/entomopathogenic fungi in pest management is found to be ecologically viable for solving above problems.