Efficacy of <i>Beauveria bassiana</i> and </i>Trichoderma viride</i> against <i>Bemisia tabaci</i> (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) on tomato plants

Abstract

Bemisia tabaci poses a major threat to tomato crops, causing significant yield losses and economic damage to farmers. This study investigates the conidia filtration method as a potential management strategy for B. tabaci under greenhouse conditions. Evaluating the efficacy of this approach in controlling the whitefly population while potentially promoting plant growth is crucial for developing sustainable solutions for tomato production. Both Trichoderma viride and Beauveria bassiana fungi effectively killed adult whiteflies in this study, significantly exceeding the untreated control. Beauveria bassiana showed slightly higher mortality rates at all time points, achieving a maximum of 69.47% compared to T. viride’s 62.22% after 14 days. Trichoderma viride and Beauveria bassiana significantly stimulated plant growth compared to the untreated control. However, T. viride emerged as the superior growth promoter across all assessed parameters: plant height, fresh weight, and dry weight. It achieved the tallest plants (27.31 cm), exceeding both the control and B. bassiana. Similarly, its impact on fresh and dry weight surpassed both the control and B. bassiana, reaching respective values of 14.21 and 2.83 g. These findings suggest that T. viride holds greater potential as a plant growth promoter under the examined conditions.