In vitro bioefficacy of Trichoderma harzianum and chitosan compound against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the efficacy of the native isolates of Trichoderma species and novel compound chitosan to manage Fusarium wilt disease under in vitro conditions. The dominant pathogen, which causes Fusarium wilt of tomato, was isolated and identified as Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (FOL). Six native Trichoderma antagonists were isolated from healthy tomato rhizosphere soil in different geographical regions. Under in vitro conditions, the results revealed that Trichoderma harzianum isolate-8 was found to effectively inhibit the radial mycelial growth of the pathogen (by 53%) when compared to all other isolates. All the four concentrations of chitosan are significantly variable in reducing the mycelial growth of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. The highest 87.22% reduction of the mycelial growth of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici was observed at 0.8% of chitosan.