Novel Liquid Mycofungicide: An Ideal Approach in Protecting Tomato from the Damping-off Disease in Nursery

Abstract

Background: A novel liquid formulation of Trichoderma asperellum was prepared and its effectiveness was assessed by different methods for the management of tomato damping-off in the nursery. The experiments were conducted for two consecutive years in a randomized block design with three replications. Results: T. asperellum formulation improved seed germination and management of tomato damping-off when compared with control. All the treatments performed better over control, in the first year, the antagonist’s application enhanced seed germination up to 75.75 percent, however, it was 60.13 percent in control. There was 10.93 to 20.38 percent seedling mortality due to damping off which was comparatively lower than the control (26.98%). A similar trend of seed germination and disease incidence was observed in the second year. In addition to managing the disease, the antagonist certainly promoted the vegetative growth which was reflected as increased shoot and root length in comparison to control during both years. During the first year, shoot length ranged 10.90 – 12.85 cm as compared to the control (8.72 cm) and root length ranged from 3.21 to 3.65 cm which was greater than the control. Almost a similar trend in the vegetative growth parameters of seedling was observed during the second year. Conclusion: The present investigation showed that the tested antagonist’s formulation could efficiently managed the tomato damping-off as well as encouraged the vegetative growth of seedlings which ultimately ensured better and healthy seedling. And this formulation can successefully used through different methods to take care of tomato damping off.