Assessment Of The Anti-Fungal Activity Of Trichoderma harzianum Against Seed-Borne Chickpea Ascochyta Blight Under Field Conditions

Two fungicides, Aliette and ThiovitJet @ 0.15%, containing Aluminum tris (O-ethyl phosphonate) and sulphur compounds, respectively; two plant extracts, Melia azedarach and Azadirachta indica @ 8% and one biocontrol agent, Trichoderma harzianum @ 107 conidia ml-1 were investigated against ascochyta blight of chickpea under field conditions. Treatments were evaluated on three varieties susceptible to chickpea blight. Field trial revealed that Aliette and ThiovitJet significantly decreased disease severity to 17 and 23% respectively, followed by M. azedarach and A. indica which decreased severity to 50 and 56% respectively, compared to control with 75% disease severity. T. harzianum, with a severity of 63%, was significantly less effective than fungicides and both plant extracts in controlling blight disease. The current research revealed that systemic and sulphur containing fungicides, both plant extracts and the biocontrol agent have the potential to control ascochyta blight of chickpea.

A field experiment was conducted in autumn season of 2012 in a private farm in Anbar state/city of Ramadi, in the soil of sedimentary soil (silty loam alluvial ) categorized as Typic Torrifluvent to study the effect of added organic sources of different fertilizers Peat moss and reeds and straw fermented aerobically level (10 tons H-1) and spray extracts of fertilizer after fermentation mentioned with four concentrations (0, 5, 10, 15 g liter -1) on the total vegetative plant pumpkin squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) cv. Amjid. The factorial experiment was used according to Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates. The total yield and early yield and NPK concentration was estimated in the shoot and the soil after planting. The Peat moss fertilizer showed a normally superior level of probability of 0.05 in the rate of overall early yield and yield of (4.23 tons h-1, 3546 kg Plant-1), respectively compared with other fertilizers. The Peat moss treatment give the highest concentration of N (1.60%), while Peat moss and straw gave the highest concentration of P in the shoot plant (0.53%), and reeds fertilizer gave the highest rate of concentration of K (1.28%). Peat moss gave the highest concentration of NPK in the soil after harvest(122.17 mlg kg-1, 12.40 mlg kg-1, 212.72 mlg kg−1) compared with other fertilizers. The (15 g L-1) concentration a significant superiority in the rate of overall and early yield of (3.35 tons h-1, 2.627 kg plant-1) respectively, compared with other concentrations, the same concentration had the highest concentration of NPK in shoot vegetation of ( 1.60, 0.54, 1.28 %). As well as, the concentration (15 g L−1) gave the highest rate in NPK concentration in the soil after planting at a rate of ( 112.91 mlg kg−1, 11.37 mlg.kg−1, 197.51 mlg.kg−1), respectively, compared to other treatments. The interaction between the (Peat moss and concentration 15 g. L−1) treatments, gave a significant superiority on the interaction of fertilizers and levels of other additions in the rate of overall yield and the concentration of NPK in the shoot of the plant and inside the soil after planting (4.92 tons h−1, 1.64 %,0.56%, 1.31 %, 130.00 mg kg−1,13.64 mlg kg−1, 223.29 ml kg−1), respectively. While the early yield characters excelled in the interaction treatment of (Peat moss and 10 g L−1 concentration) at a rate of (3.893 kg plant−1).

Two pot experiments were conducted at Soil Improvement and Conservation Research Dep. at Sakha Agricultural Research Station, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, North Nile Delta, Egypt during winter season 2018/2019. The factorial experiments were carried out in a complete randomized block design (CRBD) to study the effect of peat moss, compost, vermiculite, compost+ peat moss (1:1), peat moss + vermiculite (1:1), compost + vermiculite (1:1) and compost+ peat moss+ vermiculite (1:1:1) on growth, productivity and quality of lettuce (cv .Beqbal) and red cabbage (cv.Naden). The obtained results showed clear variation in the chemical and physical properties of different media after plants harvesting. The chlorophyll content, plant height and head diameter of lettuce and red cabbage values were significantly affected by different growth media. The highest values of these parameters were obtained by the mixture of compost+ peat moss+ vermiculite, while the lowest values were observed in plants grown in vermiculite. On the other hands, the mixture between compost+ peat moss+ vermiculite increased the valid, fresh and dry weights/plant of lettuce by 330.4, 336.8 and 109.8%, respectively, while the corresponding increases of these parameters in red cabbage were 216.4, 173.1 and 43.0%, respectively comparing to vermiculite. Also, this mixture achieved the highest values of NPK percentage for lettuce and red cabbage. In contrast, the lowest values of NPK were recorded with vermiculite media.

ascotraceR: An R Package Resource to Simulate the Spatiotemporal Spread of Ascochyta Blight in a Chickpea Field Over a Growing Season.

Liberica coffee is a hardy perennial crop grown by smallholders as a monocrop or intercrop with coconut or other fruit trees. The current propagation method of Liberica coffee clones is based on grafting, which requires 7-8 months for rootstock to mature and another 7-8 months for planting. The current production manual suggests using a 1:1 ratio of soil to sand to produce matured Liberica coffee rootstock. Studies have shown that using a combination of planting media, such as rice husk charcoal and compost, can result in higher plant height, number of leaves, internodes, and leaf area. A combination of leaf manure, silt, straw, peat moss, and soil performed better than 100% soil due to better nutrients, water, and anchorage provision. Consequently, a study to assess the impacts of growing media on MKL 1 polyhybrid as rootstock was carried out. The experimental design used was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 4 replications. Treatment consist of T1 = soil + sand (1:1), T2 = soil + cocopeat (1:1), T3 = soil + peat moss + sand + cocopeat (1:1:1:1), T4 = soil + peat moss + cocopeat (2:1:1), T5 = soil + peat moss (3:1), T6 = soil + chicken manure (3:1) and T7 = soil + CIRP (10:1). Parameters evaluated in this study include plant height, leaves number, stem girth, SPAD, fresh root weight and dried root weight. The findings indicate that the treatments had a significant impact on girth, SPAD, and root fresh weight and these three parameters share significant positive association with one another. Girth performed best under T4 although fresh root weight and SPAD performed noticeably better under T3. Current recommended protocol for media performed significantly lower compared to other media. This study offers a new outlook on how to improve current protocol on Liberica coffee rootstock preparations.

Tomato is an important horticultural crop as it provides income and contributes to food security for Rwandan citizens. Besides its importance, its production is hampered by the use of a soil-based growing medium which results in the production of low-quality transplants. This is mainly attributed to the unaffordability of peat moss to small-scale farmers in Rwanda. Hence, a greenhouse nursery experiment was carried out at the Rwanda-Israel Horticulture Centre of Excellence to search for an alternative growing medium to peat moss. Nine different growing media were formulated from a mixture at different ratios of sand, goat manure, and carbonised rice husks. The seeds were sown in propagation trays. The experiment was laid out in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance and means were separated using Tukey’s honestly significant difference test at p ≤ 0.05. The data analysis was carried out using SAS software version 9.2. The results revealed that sand + goat manure + carbonised rice husk 50 %: 10 %: 40 % (T8) was comparable to T1 (peat moss 100 %) in producing higher quality seedlings during both trials with a mean quality index of 0.28 and 0.31, respectively, whereas T2 (sand 100 %) had seedlings with the poorest quality. Consequently, T8 can be adopted by nursery producers as an alternative to peat moss in the production of quality tomato transplants. More research on other locally available organic substrates is encouraged to find out alternatives to expensive media like peat moss because it was observed that the use of sand + goat manure + carbonised rice husk 50 %: 10 %: 40 % revealed in production of quality seedlings with no significant difference from the ones grown in peat moss.

Efficacy of organic disease control products on common foliar diseases of tomato in field and greenhouse trials

An experiment was conducted in Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal, in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with five treatments: T1 (sand:soil, 1:1) [control], T2 (sand:cocopeat:perlite, 1:1:1), T3 (perlite:sand, 1:1), T4 (sand:cocopeat, 1:1), and T5 (peat moss:perlite, 1:1). Each treatment was replicated four times with a total of 300 planted cuttings. The key parameters evaluated were sprouting percentage, shoot growth (length, leaf number, and branch number), and root development (length, number, fresh, and dry biomass). Analysis of data was done using R-Studio, and Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT) was performed at a 5% significance level. The results revealed that peat moss:perlite (1:1) demonstrated the highest shoot growth with shoot length of 6.00, 14.38 and 28.78 cm at 30, 60, and 90 Days After Planting (DAP) respectively. Leaf number were 6.25, 13.12, and 19.57, while branch numbers were 1.76, 2.00, and 2.18 at the same intervals., Additionally, the fresh root weight was recorded 8.74 g. Sand:cocopeat:perlite (1:1:1) recorded the highest sprouting percentage (81.66%) and root length (17.11 cm), while sand:cocopeat (1:1) achieved the highest root number (18.37) and dry root weight (0.99 g). Perlite:sand (1:1) exhibited moderate performance with sprouting percentage 69.99%, and root length 12.56 cm. In contrast, control (sand:soil) showed the least favorable results with the lowest sprouting percentage (58.33%), the fewest number of roots (7.81), and the minimum root length (9.73). This study concludes that peat moss:perlite (1:1) is the most effective growing medium for bougainvillea propagation, offering a practical solution to enhance rooting success and growth performance. Sand:cocopeat (1:1) with maximum dry weight of root and maximum number of roots emerged as a reliable alternative, proving the effectiveness of the medium.

A pot experiment has been conducted in a plastic house at the Department of Protected Cultivation, Technical Institute of Zakho, Duhok Polytechnic University during the fall season of 2021–2022 to investigate the effects of three growth media (peat moss, loam + peat moss (1:1) and clay + peat moss (1:1)), foliar spraying of calcium chloride (CaCl2) at three concentrations (0, 500 and 1000 mg. L-1) and Gibberellic acid (GA3) at three concentrations (0, 200 and 400 mg. L-1) on vegetative growth, flowering and corm yield of freesia (Freesia refrecta L.) plant. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) of three factors with three replicates. The obtained results displayed that the peat moss medium surpassed other media in giving the highest vegetative growth traits (plant height, leaf area, and number of leaves per plant) as well as enhancing flowering traits (number of florets/spike, and vase life of cut flower) and corm yield traits (number of produced corm/plant, and corm volume). The same significant impact was exhibited by CaCl2 at concentrations of 500 and 1000 mg. L-1. Whereas GA3 at concentrations of 200 and 400 mg. L-1 improved most studied traits except number of florets per plant and vase life of cut flowers. The maximum vegetative, flowering, and corm harvest traits were obtained from grown plants in peat moss medium and by spraying them with increased concentrations of CaCl2 and GA3. Therefore, the peat moss medium in combination with increased concentrations of GA3 and CaCl2 is recommended for the improvement of freesia production quality and vase life

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a significant and high-value pulse crop worldwide, ranking third after beans and pea. It is a yearly legume adopted in 45 countries over 5 continents and grown over a territory of 10.4 million hectares with the production of 8.57 million tons. Chickpea is known by various names, such as Bengal gram, gram, and chana, in India, being the largest chickpea producer accounting for 64% of the worldwide production. Chickpea has a quantitative source of carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, fibers, and phytochemicals. Comparatively the nutritional quality of protein existing in chickpea is better than other pulses. Chickpea also fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere and reduces the need for nitrogenous fertilizers. Optimal conditions like 18–26 °C (during the night) and 21–29 °C (during the day) and rainfall of 560–660 mm/year are required for the optimal growth and development of chickpea. The crops are affected by serious foliar disease, which affects the development stages. Pathogens like fungi, viruses, bacteria, nematodes, and mycoplasma affect chickpea production. Among all this, fungi are the most disease causing group that affect the growth and development of roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and pods of chickpea. Diseases of chickpea like Botrytis gray mold, Ascochyta blight disease, rust, and Sclerotinia blight are caused by fungi Botrytis cinerea, Ascochyta rabiei, Uromyces ciceris-arietini, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, respectively. Among these, most prominent are the Ascochyta blight and Botrytis gray mold. The foliar disease has restricted chickpea production in many countries, so integrated management or efficient control strategies are to be taken to prevent loss of crop and pulses. This chapter includes the ecology of the chickpea to its environment based on distribution and climate analysis. New and suitable understanding of the science, economic importance, distribution, symptoms, epidemiology, and integrated management and control measures of the major foliar fungal disease of chickpea is studied in this chapter. Investigation of the pathogen’s genetic basis of host-pathogen interaction and identification of the host-plant resistance will help in improving or breeding a resistant variety of chickpea and will be useful to farmers and researchers.

Studies were undertaken across five field locations in Western Australia to determine the relative changes in disease severity and subsequent field pea yield from up to four foliar pathogens associated with a field pea foliar disease complex (viz. genera Didymella, Phoma, Peronospora, and Septoria) across four different pea varieties sown at three different times and at three different densities. Delaying sowing of field pea significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the severity of Ascochyta blight (all five locations) and Septoria blight (one location), increased the severity of downy mildew (four locations), but had no effect on seed yield. In relation to Ascochyta blight severity at 80 days after sowing, at all locations the early time of sowing had significantly (P < 0.05) more severe Ascochyta blight than the mid and late times of sowing. Increasing actual plant density from 20 to 25 plants m-2 to 58 to 78 plants m-2 significantly (P < 0.05) increased the severity of the Ascochyta blight (four locations) and downy mildew (one location), and it increased seed yield at four locations irrespective of sowing date and three locations irrespective of variety. Compared with varieties Dundale, Wirrega, and Pennant, variety Alma showed significantly (P < 0.05) less severe Ascochyta blight, downy mildew, and Septoria blight (one location each). Grain yield was highest for the early time of sowing at three locations. Varieties Alma, Dundale, and Wirrega significantly (P < 0.05) outyielded Pennant at four locations. The percentage of isolations of individual Ascochyta blight pathogens at 80 days after the first time of sowing varied greatly, with genus Didymella ranging from 25 to 93% and genus Phoma ranging from 6 to 23% across the five field locations. This fluctuating nature of individual pathogen types and proportions within the Ascochyta blight complex, along with variation in the occurrence of pathogens Peronospora and Septoria, highlights the challenges to understand and manage the complexities of co-occurring different foliar pathogens of field pea. While the search for more effective host resistance continues, there is a need for and opportunities from further exploring and exploiting cultural management approaches focusing on crop sequence diversification, intercropping, manipulating time of sowing and stand density, and application of improved seed sanitation and residue/inoculum management practices. We discuss the constraints and opportunities toward overcoming the challenges associated with managing foliar disease complexes in field pea.

Ascochyta blight, an infection caused by Ascochyta rabiei is a destructive disease in many chickpea growing regions and it caused significant yield losses. To minimize the impact of Ascochyta blight, 5 fungicides viz., Aliette, Cabrio Top, Thiovit Jet, Cymoxanil and Difenoconazole, 5 plants extracts namely Azadirachta indica, Azadirachta azedarach, Datura stramonium, Chenopodium album and Allium sativum L. and two strains T-22 and E58 of bio-control agents (BCAs) Trichoderma viride and Aspergillus flavus were evaluated on the growth of A. rabiei under in vitro conditions by using the food poison technique. The colony growth of Ascochyta rabiei was inhibited at all concentrations of fungicides @ 0.07, 0.15, 0.21%, plants extracts @ 4, 6, 9% and bio-control agents @ 105, 106 and 107 conidia ml-1 respectively. Among all applied treatments, maximum inhibition colony growth of pathogen was recorded in the case of Aliette (83.4%), followed by Cabrio Top (74.3%), Azadirachta indica (50.3%) and Trichoderma viride (60.3%) at their high concentrations. Field trials showed that Aliette and Cabario Top significantly reduced the disease severity to 10 % and 24% respectively, followed by Azadirachta indica and Allium sativum which reduced the disease severity to 40% and 50% respectively. Bio-control agent Trichoderma viride proved less effective in controlling Ascochyta bight severity under field conditions. The present study showed that systemic and sulphur containing fungicides, plant extracts and bio-control agents (BCAs) have the potential to control Ascochyta blight in both in vitro and in vivo conditions.

The aim of this study was to formulate an integrated disease management (IDM) strategy for winter sports turf. (Winter sports turf, or coarse turf, consists primarily of perennial rye grass, Lolium perenne, which is used for football, rugby and hockey pitches because of its wear tolerant characteristics). IDM involves the use of a number of control strategies to suppress disease economically and efficiently. Such strategies incorporate cultural, biological, genetic, legislative and chemical control. In order to formulate a successful disease management strategy, all the significant diseases affecting winter sports turf and the effects of different management strategies on these target pathogens needed to be identified and collated. This was achieved by a comprehensive questionnaire survey to professional football clubs (who require a high level of turf maintenance) and local authorities (moderate/low maintenance). The questionnaire sought information regarding disease, pest and weed incidence, control measures employed and general problems, e. g. drainage, wear and routine management practices. Red thread, Laetisariafiiciformis, and Fusarium patch, Microdochium nivale appeared to be the most ubiquitous diseases on winter sports turf. Some important management practices that suppress red thread can, however, encourage Fusarium patch, e. g. the application of nitrogenous fertiliser. A series of experiments and field trials have been initiated to identify a number of specific factors which manage to effectively suppress both diseases. A field trial involving the use of species mixtures, perennial rye grass and smooth stalked meadow grass (Poa pratensis), illustrated that genetic diversity can help to reduce both red thread and Fusarium patch compared to turf grown in monoculture. The amount Fusarium patch and red thread cover indicated that disease severity was significantly lower in dual species stands as compared to monoculture. A mixture comprising 50% perennial rye grass and 50% smooth stalked meadow grass appeared the most effective at suppressing disease incidence. Similarly, mixtures of three perennial rye grass cultivars appeared more successful at suppressing slight outbreaks of red thread as compared to bi-blends and monoculture. In addition, individual perennial rye grass cultivars also vary in tolerance to red thread. One hundred and ten cultivars, under three different nitrogen regimes were assessedto determine which were the most disease resistant. The cultivars, received artificial football type wear treatment throughout the winter, to determine if red thread incidence predisposes rye grass to be less wear tolerant. The results indicate that a number of cultivars tolerant to red thread throughout the summer were also more resistant to wear. These cultivars included Quickstart, DelDwarf and Brightstar. Wear tolerance was also increased under a moderate nitrogen level (150 kg/ha/yr). Finally, a field trial investigating the effect of nitrogen rate on red thread and Fusarium patch incidence on five different constructions for football pitches was set down. Both diseases appeared to be efficiently suppressed under a moderate/high nitrogen level (N=225 kg/ha/yr). The 'pipe/slit' construction type also appeared to contain both diseases effectively, whilst sustaining a healthy, vigorous sward throughout the Winter when subjected to artificial football-type wear treatment. In addition to the field studies, an investigation to isolate potential microbial antagonists for use as biocontrol agents against Fusarium patch was undertaken; Fusarium patch was identified as the most economically important disease on winter sports turf from the original survey. A number of known antagonists and indigenous fungi and bacteria isolated from the phylloplane and rhizosphere of Lolium perenne were screened in vitro on turfgrass extract agar against Fusarium patch. This in vitro assay identified which species effectively suppressed disease growth. These potential antagonists were further tested in vivo to determine efficacy under field conditions. Fungi from the genus Trichoderma and bacteria from the genera Bacillus and Pseudornonos appeared the most effective antagonists against Fusarium patch in the in vivo study. In all cases where an antagonist was present, Fusarium patch severity was significantly lower than the untreated control, e. g. the indigenous Bacillus sp. reduced disease severity by 76.1 %. The results obtained from the field trials are encouraging and suggest that the use of species/cultivar mixtures, disease tolerant cultivars and a balanced fertiliser regime on a freely-draining construction type can successfully be incorporated into an IDM plan. An IDM strategy will help to effectively suppress both red thread and Fusariurn patch on winter sports turf. Biological control of Fusariurn patch was successful on an experimental basis, although further research is required to identify an appropriate formulation and optimum application technique for successful commercial use. The use of IDM on winter sports turf will help reduce reliance on chemical control, may delay the onset of fungicide resistance and reduce non-target impacts of fungicides. IDM will also help limit the need for potentially hazardous chemicals in recreational areas open to the public.

The study was conducted in a cloth canopy, Department of Hortiagriculture and Landscape Engineering, College of Agriagriculture, University of Basra, Garma Ali's, for the agricultural season 2020-2021, to determine the effect of planting date and agriculture media, on some vegetative and flowering characteristics of Viola tricolor L., and the percentage of its volatile oil. The study was carried out using a randomized complete block design (R.C.B.D) with two factors, the first factor was planting date 10/15 and 11/15, the second factor was five means, included Loam (Z), 2 Loam: 1 animal fertilizers (2Z:1C), 3 Loam: 1 animal Fertilizers (3Z:1C), 2 Loam: 1 peat moss (2Z:1P), 3 Loam: 1 peat moss (3Z:1P). The statistical program GenStat was used to analyze the data statistically, the means were compared according to the Least Significant Difference (L.S.D) test at the 0.05 probability level. The results showed that the first date was significant, on plant height, leaves number, branches number and leaf area, it gave the highest values (25.87 cm, 65.07 leaf plant-1, 9.53 branch plant-1, 365.6 cm2 respectively), number of flowers per plant, percentage of oil and refractive index (63.40 flower plant-1, 0.4911% and 1.3482, respectively).

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of soilless media and water levels on growth and physiological response of rubber plant. The four water levels were I50: 50%, I75: 75%, I100: 100% and I150: 150%) with three replications per water treatment and four soilless media. Water levels were determined as irrigation needed for the root zone in growing media to rise to field capacity I100:100%, at field capacity (FC). The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) in factorial arrangement 3 x 4 with three replications. Soilless medium contains proportion of vermiculite, perlite, coconut husk, empty fruit bunch (EFB) compose, Christmas Island Rock Phosphate (CIRP), peat moss, urea-N and burnt rice husk coded as M1. Vermiculite, perlite, coconut husk, EFB, CIRP, peat moss, urea-N, sugarcane bagasse coded as M2. M3 is a commercial soilless medium and 100% soil was designated as control. The M1 significantly influenced almost all plant growth traits, noticeable in biomass production. Growth of plants in M1 corresponded to higher water use efficiency WUEinstantaneous and WUEintrinsic, the M1 increased plant growth like LAR, biomass production and root morphological traits. Shoot dry weight of the plant was greater (14.66 g/plant) when 150% was applied and significantly different from M2 (10.36 g/plant), M3 (4.73 g/plant) and M4 6.22 g/plant. Lower water level 50%, applied in plant grown in M1 (31.94 g/plant) recorded highest total shoot fresh weight (SFW). The results showed suitability of the soilless medium M1 and the 50% water level for rubber nursery planting. Consequently, it is recommended for planting where management and control of irrigation water are considered necessary in rubber plantation.