Currently various methods are used to fight insects damaging agricultural crops. The approaches include growing plants resistant to pests and the use of chemicals toxic for plants and humans. However, the most promising methods in terms of pest control, that ensure safety of human health and preservation of environment, are biological methods based on the use of baculoviruses. It is a special sort of viruses which attack harmful insects in nature, but does not affect humans. The use of baculoviruses for pest control is considered to be one of the most environmentally friendly ways of agricultural pest control.
The proposed technology is based on the use of baculoviruses for the creation of natural biological preparations (biopesticides) for pest control. Once inside the insect organism, the virus damages the vital functions of the parasite causing its death. The virus penetrates into the external environment and infects healthy pests in the process of natural decomposition of the organism, as well as together with the excrement of the still alive parasite.
Urgent task faced by today's developers and manufacturers of baculovirus preparations is to create products that could a) be effective against a broad spectrum of pests, not just a few species, b) slow down adaptation of the parasite to the action of virus strains, c) cause rapid death of insects and ensure long-term protective effect.
The proposed technology allows creating baculovirus drugs effective against a variety of pests (gypsy moth, cotton bollworm, meadow moth, nun moth, American white moth, etc.). At the same time, the parasites do not acquire resistance to viruses. The death of insect occurs on the third day after applying drug to plants. The total period of activity of the virus can last up to 1 year.