Abstract
TRIBAS is a biopesticide formulation developed from bacterial consortia of B. subtilis isolates. The formulation can control maize diseases, particularly those caused by pathogenic fungi. This research was conducted to validate the effectiveness of TRIBAS to support growth and yield of several maize inbred grown for parental seed production of several high yielding hybrids. A local seed growers’ participatory evaluation was set up in three districts in South Sulawesi (Maros, Soppeng, and Bone) using 5 maize inbred, i.e., MR-15, N-79, NEI-9008, AMB-20, and MAL-03. Each was grown following standard seed growing procedures with an additional treatment, with and without TRIBAS application. The results showed that the application of TRIBAS through seed treatment and plant spraying was able to inhibit the incidence of three main fungal diseases in maize, i.e, P. philippinensis, R. solani and B. maydis. The application did not result in significant seed productivity increase; however, it provides economic added value of up to IDR 5,724,000/Ha, considering that the seeds being propagated are parental seeds whose prices are relatively high (Rp 90,000/Kg). Continuous application of TRIBAS is expected to increase bacteria population in the soil, which, gradually would result in the increase of crop productivity.
Highlights
Antagonistic microorganisms such as Bacillus subtilis can be formulated to produce a pest control for biological product
The results showed that the application of TRIBAS through seed treatment and plant spraying was able to inhibit the incidence of three main fungal diseases in maize, i.e, P. philippinensis, R. solani and B. maydis
There was a difference in the response of maize inbreds resistance to downy mildew P. philippinensis, stem and leaf blight R. solani and B. maydis between two different treatments, with and without biopesticide
Summary
Antagonistic microorganisms such as Bacillus subtilis can be formulated to produce a pest control for biological product. Beside preventing yield losses through controlling pests and diseases, biopesticides is beneficial for environmental and human health by contributing in reduction of chemical pesticides which results in safer quality of agricultural products [1]. The application of this bacterial isolate was reported to have a high reproductive ability, shown by the high number of bacterial colonies in the root sprout which seeds treated with B. subtilis BNt8. Application of B. subtilis BNt8 formulation can suppressing leaf blight up to 13% and potentially increasing yields by 26% [8]
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