Suppressiveness of Late Blight and Fusarium Wilt of Tomato with Trichoderma Fortified Composts

Trichoderma is widely distributed and ubiquitous in almost all type of soils and their species promote growth of the plants and commercially used as bio-fungicide against soil borne plant pathogens. The present study was conducted with the aim to determine the efficacy of Trichoderma species using dual culture and pot assays against Phytophthora infestans (late blight) and Fusarium oxysporum (wilt) of tomato on different compost including carbon rich compost, nitrogen rich compost and nutrient enriched compost. The species of Trichoderma includes T. harzianum and T. asperellum isolated from rhizosphere of tomato from different localities of district Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan which were recognized morphologically. Three isolates of T. harzianum HM, HK, HC and one isolate of T. asperellum TH were evaluated in dual culture assays and in pots amended with different composts against P. infestans and F. oxysporum. Mycelial growth reduction and inhibition percentage of P. infestans and F. oxysporum in dual culture assay significantly higher by T. harzianum HK as compared to all other isolates. Furthermore, pot experiments conducted with carbon rich compost inoculated with Trichoderma strains with pathogens inoculums provided most effective control as compared with nitrogen rich compost and nutrient enriched compost. These results suggested the potential of Trichoderma spp. for affective control of plant pathogens by considering the growth, environmental conditions favoring the disease suppression.