I am working on a thesis consisting of determining the effectiveness of biocontrol agents on selected crops in Mauritius. I would like to have some ideas on the methods possible to do it.
I think you need to consider the the success rate and the establishment of the agents in the environment.
It would be useful to know on which natural enemies you concentrate? On predators or on parasitoids? Also the crop(s) can be of importance. Your question is too general, without details on your conception it is impossible to help you.
I am mainly working on parasitoids, the selected crops are some crucifers, okra and tomato. I am actually rearing around 50 Plutella Xylostella larvae and trying to identify any parasitoid manifestation.
Dear Aadarsh,
Plutella xylostella or maculipennis feeds only on Cruciferae. This is not an important pest in Hungary but in England. When Cruciferae thorough P. xylostella is your strating point, it would be interesting to collect the parasitoids of P. xylostella occurring on a cruciferous crop. Depending on the conditions in your country, this would be possible in a field not treated by pesticides. Certainly, for the identification of the parasitoids you may find, you will need the help of a specialist.
Dear Aadarsh
If you are looking a pathogens or microbials try to get a copy of Field manual of Techniques in Invertebrate pathology as this has protocols and assessment techniques for a variety of different agents and for trials on different crops. It also covers application and statistical analysis.
Best of luck
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