A major challenge in the implementation of nematophagous fungi for biological control is the development of fungal formulations economically viable and easy to apply. A commonly used
alternative for the application of fungi in the biological control is oral administration of chlamydospores mixed into the concentrate and offered as feed to the animals . Another alternative for fungi administration has been the sodium alginate formulation. Sodium alginate formulations containing mycelial mass have been experimentally evaluated against parasitic nematodes of different species in laboratory and field conditions . Studies with mycelial mass of nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys robusta and Monacrosporium thaumasium encapsulated in sodium alginate and given orally to stabled dairy calves resulted in significant reductions of infective larvae of nematodes, but none of these formulations have been developed using D. flagrans for the control of parasitic nematodes of beef cattle in the field. The aim of
the present study was to test the effect of the fungus D. flagrans (isolated AC001) in sodium alginate pellets for the biological control of parasitic gastrointestinal nematodes on beef cattle reared in extensive systems under the climatic conditions of tropical
Brazil.