Maize stover is difficult to decompose naturally, therefore special treatment is needed to accelerate the decomposition process. Research was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of decomposer bacteria for maize stover to be used as organic fertilizer. The research was conducted in South Sulawesi Indonesia from June to Desember 2013, consisted of collecting soil samples taken from the bacterial natural habitats ie: maize planting site, soil under the heap of stalk and maize cob, soil under the heap of rice straw and husk, and soil under the heap of sorghum stalk. The soil samples were brought to the Pest and Diseases Laboratory for the isolation of bacteria. A total of 119 isolates were collected, and were screened under 50o C temperature, where 29 isolates were found as decomposer bacteria. The 29 isolates were tested in vitro using stalk plus leaf of maize, and 16 strains were found as effective bacteria. The green houses experiment tested 16 strains for effectiveness using 0.5 kg of stalk plus leaf of maize. There were 6 strains of effective decomposer bacteria, which were more effective compared to the commercial EM4 bacteria as control.

Sheath blight is an important disease in corn. The disease could cause significant yield loss when infection occurs on susceptible varieties. Disease control using the microorganism antagonist is an alternative for disease management. Research was carried out in a laboratory, greenhouse and field from 2010 to 2012. The research objective was to compare several biological agents for controlling sheath blight disease on corn. In vitro laboratory tests identified that out of sixteen isolates of microorganisms, only 3 isolates which had the potency to suppress the pathogen of sheath blight over 50%, namely TT1; TM; and GM. Conidia development among the three isolates of microorganism the highest was by TT1. In the greenhouse, three isolates of microorganisms showed potential of decreasing sheath blight disease up to 70%. The Gliocladium isolates decreases the disease by 53%. Research results from the field indicated the antagonist had decreased sheath blight disease by 67%. Isolates of Trichoderma and Gliocladium fungus could reduce the yield loss by 23% by suppressing the infection of sheath blight disease.