02639naa a2200229 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001910000170006024500440007726000090012130000150013049000080014552020310015365000180218465000110220265000120221365000240222565000110224965300110226065300220227177301160229314626282006-03-09       2000    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d1 aMOSCARDI, F.  aViruses - prospects in crop protection.  c2000  ap.982. v.2  vv.2  aThe use of insect viruses in crop protection has been made mostly with viruses of the Baculoviridae family, currently divided in two genera: a) Nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV) and Granulovius (GV). The baculoviruses are important tools in IPM programs, because they are regarded as safe and selective biopesticides restricted to invertebrates. Although they have been utilized worldwide against several insect pests, their application has not met their potencial to control pests in crops, forest and pastures, with the exception of the NPV of Anticarsia gemmatalis in soybean in Brazil, which has lately been used annually in ca. 1.400.000 ha (ca. 10% of the cultivated area withsoybean inthis country) (for review, see Moscardi, 1999 Annu. Rev. Entomol. 44: 257-289). The  main problems that have limited expansion of baculovirus use include, among others: a) narrow host range; b) slow killing speed, when compared to chemical insecticides; c) insect pests maintain normal feeding capacity for 2-4 days after treatment; d) technical and economical difficulties for vitro production; e) variability of field efficacy due to climatic conditions; and f) farmers attitudes toward pest control, mainly based on application of fast-killing chemical insecticides. Strategies to counteract limitations of baculoviruses, include the use of chemical or biological substances added to virus formulations and genetic engineering, mainly to increase virulence and speed of kill, as well as to reduce the capacity of feeding of pests on host plants. The future of baculovirus use in crop protection will depend on research on key issues to counteract their limitations, as pointed out above, so as to attract greater interest of the industry in producing and commercializing these agents and to improve their acceptance among growers, through a global farmer education toward use of biological control agents. The use of the NPV of A. gemmatalis in Brazil will serve as a case-study to discuss the prospects of baculovirus in crop protection.  aBaculoviridae  aBrazil  aInsecta  aControle Microbiano  aInseto  aBrasil  aMicrobial control  tIn: INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ENTOMOLOGY, 21., 2000, Foz do Iguassu. Abstracts... Londrina: Embrapa Soja, 2000.