Abstract
This study aimed to produce an economic and stable biofungicide based on a new effective antagonistic strain (Trichoderma harzianum JF419706) via the exploitation of agro-industrial lignocellulosic residues as carriers for fungal growth to control the root rot diseases of vegetable crops. Trichoderma harzianum JF419706 showed a good resistance to a chemical fungicide with two-fold of the recommended dose. It was able to propagate on corn stovers amended with 20% of date molasses, as a very cheap substrate, up to 2.90 × 1016 CFU/g after 30 days. Formulation of the bioagent on the substrate as a fine powder (FTB) increased the shelf-life up to 8 months with good viability (9.37 × 1011 CFU/g). The bioagent propagated itself in the rhizospheric soil about two-fold of the initial inoculum. Application of the FTB, as a seed treatment, suppressed the root rot disease severity percentage of cucumber, lettuce, and tomato plants to 70.0%, 61.5%, and 53.8%, respectively, from the control. The crop yield increased by 50%, 35%, and 30% in the same order of the three crops. FTB promoted the growth and physiological processes of the plants significantly compared with the control. Our study recommends the application of the FTB as a cost-effective biofungicide and biofertilizer in crop management, singly or as a part of integrated pest management, to ensure the sustainability of green farming and reduce the chemical input in cultural practices.
Highlights
Soil-borne pathogens attack a wide range of horticultural and vegetable crops, causing a great reduction in the yield, and have become a global challenge facing sustainable production under greenhouse and field conditions, especially in organic farming [1,2,3,4].Chemical fungicides are still the main strategy for the control of soil-borne diseases; with growing public awareness and organic farming practices there is a need to reduce the chemical inputs in agricultural systems [5,6,7]
Trichoderma harzianum JF419706 was obtained from the rhizospheric soil of healthy lettuce plant, and it was identified by the amplification of the ITS gene using universal primers [45] and assigned the GenBank accession number JF419706 in our previous work [38]
Despite the presence of many commercial biocontrol formulations based on Trichoderma spp., new strong bioagents that can be propagated on a very cheap substrate, suppress the diseases for a long time, and resist the chemical fungicides’ residue are very important to ensure sustainable production of the biofungicides
Summary
Soil-borne pathogens attack a wide range of horticultural and vegetable crops, causing a great reduction in the yield, and have become a global challenge facing sustainable production under greenhouse and field conditions, especially in organic farming [1,2,3,4]. Chemical fungicides are still the main strategy for the control of soil-borne diseases; with growing public awareness and organic farming practices there is a need to reduce the chemical inputs in agricultural systems [5,6,7]. From the ecological point of view, sustainable development is given a great importance as an environmental policy all over the world. It is very difficult to achieve sustainable development unless environmental ethical approaches can be harmonized.
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