Application of Beauveria Bassiana to Control the Pest Hypothenemus Hampei (Ferrari) in Coffee Plantations of the Caturra Isla 6-14 Variety

This study was carried out on coffee plantations belonging to producers who are members of the "10 de Octubre" Agricultural Production Cooperative, Cumanayagua Municipality, Cienfuegos Province. These farmers had plantations of Coffea arabica L., Caturra Island 6-14 variety, between May and December 2022. Five coffee plantations were selected, with different areas planted with the aforementioned coffee varieties, to evaluate the influence of Beauveria bassiana (B. bassiana) strain LBB 1 on the control of the Hypothenemus Hampei (H. hampei) pest in these coffee plantations. The preparation and application of B. bassiana followed the procedure indicated in the Cuban Standard © NC 1013: 2014, the statistical processing of the results was carried out using the Statgraphics Centurion Statistical Package Version 19.5.01, assuming the levels of H. hampei infestation as the dependent variable and the dose to be used and the extension of the areas under study as independent variables. Some of the results obtained include: from an initial 20.6% infestation by the pathogen H. hampei in the areas selected for research and belonging to the aforementioned cooperative, after applying B. bassiana to control the pathogen, infestation levels were reduced by 50% from the initial levels, reaching a minimum infestation level of 8% in two of the evaluated areas. Another result obtained is that when a correlation test was performed between the means of the values shown by the initial and final levels of H. hampei infestation and the extension of the study areas, significant differences were found between them.