Modeling the effects of baculovirus to control insect population in agricultural fields

Abstract

Baculoviruses are special kind of pathogens that attack insects and thus have a potential to reduce the density of insect population in agricultural fields and may be an alternate to chemical insecticides. In this work, we present a model consisting of non-linear differential equations to assess the effects of baculovirus as a bio-insecticide on insect population and thus crop production. In the modeling phenomenon, we consider one-time spray per season. It is shown that under certain conditions, one-time spray is sufficient to form self-sustained cycle of baculovirus replication in the agriculture fields. For the formulated model, the equilibrium solutions are obtained and their stability behavior is discussed. It is observed that parameters related to virus infection rate and virus replication rate are important to reduce the density of insects and increasing crop production. This study reveals that in the case of one-time spray, to achieve the stability of interior equilibrium solution, the infection rate must lie within its two threshold values. The effect of some other parameters on the dynamics of insect population and crop production is also shown by means of numerical simulation.