Homeopathic Solutions as a Tool for the Agroecological Management of Velvetbean Caterpillar

Abstract

Soybean is the main oilseed crop in the world, and one of the main challenges for its production is the Anticarsia gemmatalis management, especially in agroecological production systems. In this study, it was analyzed the impact of dynamized solutions applied to soybean plants and pro-vided as food to A. gemmatalis on insect biology. Solutions tested include: Calcarea carbonica 4CH, Carbo vegetabilis 12CH, Staphysagria 4CH, A. gemmatalis nosode 12CH, Soybean nosode 4CH, and control of distilled water. Biological characteristics analyzed include: weight of caterpillars at the beginning and end of the 4th instar, dry weight of pupa, caterpillar length at 4th instar, duration of cycle, emergence of adults, fecundity of females, and ingestion, ingested food conversion efficiency, and efficiency of digested food conversion. At the beginning and at the end of the 4th instar, caterpillars fed soybean leaves treated with homeopathic substances showed reduced body weight relative to the distilled water control. The dynamized solutions tested are promising as an efficient alternative method for the control of A. gemmatalis, promoting lower conversion of food into biological efficiency and biomass.