Effeciency of fungal and bacterial biocontrol organisms for the control of fusarium wilt of tomato

Abstract

Fungal and bacterial biocontrol organisms with known activity against soil borne fungal pathogens were tested for their efficacy in controlling Fusarium wilt of tomato in the screen house. The trial tested five organisms (Trichoderma virile, Trichoderma harzianum, Penicillium oxalicum, Bacilius subtilis and Pseudomonas cepacia) with the control and two methods of application (root dip and seed treatment) in a 2x6 factorial experiment. Bacillus subtilis was the most effective antagonist providing significant (P<0.05) disease control (61.1% reduction of disease incidence). Other organisms including T. viride, T. harzianum and P. cepacia also significantly lower the incidence of Fusarium wilt compared to the control. B. subtilis also improved the growth of tomato seedling compared to the other antagonist treatment. The root population of Fusarium oxysporum was significantly lower with antagonists treatments range of (3.3-6.9 log cfu/g root) compared to 7.5 in the control. Antagonist applied as seed treatment gave significantly (P<0.05) lower disease incidence of 42.5% compared to 66.1% incidence in seedlings with root dips.

Nigerian Journal of Horticultural Science Vol. 9 2005: 63-68