Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Anjora, Durg-491 001, India.
One of the main requirements of a biological control agent is that it should have no effect on the environment. Experiments were conducted to understand the extent of spread of Duddingtonia flagrans once deposited in faeces and alteration, if any, of the organic content of faeces by the fungus which would serve as indirect evidence of its short-term environmental impact. The findings of the present experiments suggest that D. flagrans could not spread beyond the faeces on which it was deposited, survived long enough to trap animal parasitic nematode larvae and was ultimately overpowered by other microbes present in the soil/faeces/plants. The organic matter content of faeces remained unaltered. The results provided evidence that the fungus had no significant short-term adverse effect on the micro-environment.
Duddingtonia flagrans, Nematode-trapping fungus, Spread, Organic content of faeces
