Ajuste de las condiciones de un sistema para la producción in vivo de un nucleopoliedrovirus de Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The Colombian Spodoptera frugiperda nucleopolyhedrovirus isolate SfNPV003, was used to develop a biopesticide with a strong potential for the control of this pest in the field, making it an alternative to chemical pesticides. Its marketing has, however, been limited due to the high in vivo virus production costs, which has a significant impact on product price. Hence, in this study, the conditions for the viral multiplication system were adjusted, in order to increase process yield and reduce costs. Initially, the effect of larval age and viral inoculum concentration on viral productivity was determined. Subsequently, the effect of the dietary regime for larvae development was established and finally, the effect of harvest time was evaluated on productivity and contaminant content. Sixteen-day-old larvae (fourth instar) were chosen considering this as an appropriate inoculation age, inoculum concentration was 1 × 10 7 occlusion bodies (OBs)/mL and a wheat germ-based maintenance diet was selected. Seven days post- inoculation (23 day-old larvae, fourth instar) was chosen as the optimum harvesting time of the infected larvae. Under these conditions the production capacity of viral particles was increased 95 times (from 9.5 × 10 11 to 9.1 × 10 13 OBs/month), allowing for a 20 % reduction in product price, thus improving its economic feasibility.