Development of new insect suppression solutions for greenhouse production

Over the past few years, the biological control of greenhouse pests has greatly evolved to offer solutions that are more environmentally friendly and better for non-targeted organisms (pesticide-free), but also safer for workers directly exposed to those control products. A clear majority of the solutions developed to this day are based on the use of beneficial insects (predators or parasitoid), entomopathogenic fungi and bacteria. However, using them can be complex and intensive and requires extensive monitoring. Microorganism-based bioinsecticides, such as Bacillus spp., have the advantage of being easy to use. Bacteria Bacillus pumilus and Bacillus subtilis are known for their antifungal action but their potential as an insecticide has yet to be studied. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of B. pumilus for the control of western flower thrips and sciarid flies. The experiments were conducted in greenhouse environment and on various plant models (pepper, cyclamen, begonia, petunia and broccoli). With this study, we showed the insect suppressive effect of B. pumilus PTB180 for the control of sciarid flies when the bacterium is used as a growing medium amendment.