BACILLUS-THURINGIENSIS - FERMENTATION PROCESS AND RISK ASSESSMENT - ASHORT REVIEW

Several factors make the local production of Bacillus thuringiensis (B t) highly appropriate for pest control in developing nations. Bt can b e cheaply produced on a wide variety of low cost, organic substrates. Local production results in considerable savings in hard currency whic h otherwise would be spent on importation of chemical and biological i nsecticides. The use of Bt in Brazil has been limited in comparison wi th chemical insecticides. Although Bt is imported, some Brazilian rese archers have been working on its development and production. Fermentat ion processes (submerged and semi-solid) were applied, using by-produc ts from agro-industries. As the semi-solid fermentation process demons trated to be interesting for Bt endotoxins production, it could be ado pted for small scale local production. Although promising results had been achieved, national products have not been registered due to the a bsence of a specific legislation for biological products. Effective ac tions are being developed in order to solve this gap. Regardless of th e biocontrol agents being considered atoxic and harmless to the enviro nment, information related to direct and indirect effects of microbial s are still insufficient in many cases. The risk analysis of the use o f microbial control agents is of upmost importance nowadays, and is al so discussed.