Delivery strategies for entomopathogenic fungi in crop pest management: a review

Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) are promising biocontrol agents for sustainable crop protection, but their field performance remains inconsistent. Their successful implementation depends not only on the virulence of the EPF strain and its tolerance to abiotic stress, but also on effective delivery of viable inoculum to susceptible pest stages under operationally feasible conditions. This review analyses the main EPF delivery strategies and identifies their strengths and limitations. The evidence demonstrates that: (1) delivery strategy strongly influences EPF efficacy and post-application persistence by determining inoculum placement, protection and likelihood of contact with the target pest; (2) strategies such as bands, lure-based systems and living vectors can exploit predictable pest behavior to improve inoculum targeting, but are generally limited by labor, the need for tailored system design and greater operational requirements; (3) granular applications and irrigation-based delivery can place EPF in soil-associated pest habitats and partially protect inoculum from unfavorable environmental factors, although pathogen performance depends on formulation and soil conditions; (4) endophytic delivery offers alternative routes for potentially prolonged pest exposure, but currently requires further field validation and operational development; and (5) spray application remains the most scalable and broadly implemented strategy, although EPF are exposed to abiotic stressors and their efficacy depends on optimizing equipment configuration to ensure propagule viability during application, suspension stability, and conidial distribution. Overall, this review highlights that delivery strategy selection should not rely on a single factor, but rather on the integration of pest traits, agroecosystem conditions, and application constraints. The most effective fungal biocontrol programs are likely to combine complementary strategies to maximize their performance. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.