Development and integration of entomopathogenic fungi for crops protection in Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has enormous agricultural potentialities likely to contribute to its economic development. However, the sector is characterized by significant yield losses due notably to the pressure of pests. In response to this situation, most farmers use synthetic chemical pesticides, despite the problems of residues on harvested materials and their widely documented side effects on biodiversity. Up to now, efforts are made to promote healthy farming in the long term, taking into account both economic and environmental aspects. According to this principals, pest management is now achieved through the combination of agronomic, biological and physical means, chemical control being the last resort if necessary. Considering the context of DR Congo, biological control remains by far the least developed of all means in pest management. This is due to the lack of technical equipment. Nevertheless, compared to entomophagous macroorganisms, microorganisms offer the advantage of not requiring substantial resources for their integration into agriculture. This is notably the case for entomopathogenic fungi (EF): in addition to the fact that they may be multiplied on readily available substrates, their abundance in nature makes it possible to isolate new, more efficient strains with more or less marked selectivity. However, very little research on EF is carried out in this country. The present study aims to integrate these biological control agents into the pest management strategy in DR Congo. This research project will focus on two approaches: (1) evaluation of the genetic diversity of EF strains in DR Congo, which will lead to the establishment of a reference collection; and (2) screening of potential candidates for biopesticide development. Researches will be carried out on the southwestern part of the country, focusing on insect cadavers and soil samples from cultivated areas. Pure strains will be isolated on synthetic culture media then identified according to their morphological, physiological and molecular traits. Biological tests including virulence and effectiveness under various environmental conditions in laboratory will be carried out against the most important agricultural pests to be determined following a field monitoring. Finally, culture trials of EF with locally available resources at low cost will be conducted to encourage the adoption of the technology.