Carrot seed coating with bacteria for seedling protection from grass grub damage

Abstract

Carrot seedlings are susceptible to damage from grass grub larvae The biological control bacterium Serratia entomophila was applied to the surface of carrot seeds via pelleting or as a biopolymer seed coating and the activity against grass grubs determined in pot trials Seedling mortality caused by grass grub larvae was significantly reduced (Plt;005) in two trials from 88 and 64 in untreated pots to 26 and 13 in pots containing pelleted seed and 7 and 16 in pots containing biopolymercoated seed Shelf life studies showed formulations were stable at 4C for at least eight weeks and for two weeks at 20C after which cell viability decreased over time Bioassay results showed little difference between the two treatments despite a higher concentration of bacteria on the biopolymercoated than the pelleted seeds The potential of seed coating as a delivery mechanism for biocontrol agents has been demonstrated and future possibilities are discussed