Effective composting of empty fruit bunches using potential trichoderma strains

Oil palm fibres are easy to degrade, eco-friendly in nature and once composted, they can be categorized under nutrient-enriched biocompost. Biocompost is not only a good biofertilizer but also a good biocontrol agent against soil-borne pathogens. In this research, experimental works on the composting of empty fruit bunches (EFB) from the oil palm industry were conducted using two potential Trichoderma strains. Analysis of pH initially found the soils to be slightly acidic. However, after composting, the soils were found to be alkaline. Trichoderma propagules increased by 72% in the soils compared to other fungi. Soil electrical conductivity was found to be 50.40 μS/cm for compost A, 42.10 μS/cm for compost B and 40.11 μS/cm for the control. The highest C:N ratio was obtained for compost A at 3.33, followed by compost B at 2.79, and then the control at 1.55. The highest percentages of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) were found in compost A (0.91:2.13:6.68), which was followed by compost B (0.46:0.83:5.85) and then the control (0.32:0.26:5.76). Thus, the biocomposting of oil palm fibres shows great potential for enhancing soil micronutrient, plant growth performance, and crop yield production

Mycoparasitism activity of trichoderma harzianum associated with chitinase expression against ganoderma boninense

The filamentous fungus Trichoderma is an important fungus due to its biocontrol properties. This study was conducted on mycoparasitism activity of Trichoderma harzianum T32 against Ganoderma boninense upm001 on the basis of Potato Sucrose Agar (PSA) under the scanning electron microscope observation or cell wall degrading enzyme of chitinase gene expression by reverse-transcriptase (RT) PCR. The mycoparasitism process of Trichoderma harzianum T32 showed the coiling or killing of the Ganoderma boninense upm001 in PSA media. Deformity and shrinkage of Ganoderma mycelia was also observed under the scanning microscope in presence of Trichoderma. The RT-PCR profile showed that chitinase gene was expressed during the mycoprasitism activity in T. harzianum against G. boninense. It could be concluded that chitinase gene was an important element in process of biocontrol activity of Trichoderma as the gene was expressed against G. boninense

Biocontrol agent Trichoderma harzianum strain FA 1132 as an enhancer of oil palm growth

Agricultural products are mostly and adversely affected by environmental pollution caused by chemicalresidues of pesticides which are used for plant disease management. Consequently, researchers look foralternative approaches of disease control such as biocontrol agents. The results of this study showed thatconidial suspension of the soil borne fungus Trichoderma harzianum strain FA 1132 can control Ganodermaboninense which causes basal stem rot (BSR) disease in oil palm. The conidial suspension treatment wasapplied by using Trichoderma-incorporated surface mulch. The disease severity index value (DSI) showedthat Ganoderma infected the root as early as at week 5, with a DSI value of 8.3%, while physical symptomsappeared in leaf at week 8. However, no disease symptom was observed in T. harzianum strain FA1132 treatedplants and it also markedly increased oil palm root and leaf weights

First report of rhizoctonia solani kuhn. Isolated from parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus L.) in Malaysia

Fungal pathogens are useful in biocontrol of parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus L.) for efficient weed management. Although parthenium is a major problem in Malaysia, no initiative for developing biocontrol method has been taken yet. Therefore, a field study was conducted at Kg. Durian Tunggal, Melaka (Latitude: 2020'55"N, Longitude:102017'33'' E), Malaysia in August 2017 to isolate disease-causing pathogens of parthenium weed. Diseased parthenium leaves with symptoms of yellowish-brown leaf blight and the parthenium stem with reddish-brown cankers on the basal part were collected and examined after they were cultured in potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. Isolated fungus was identified based on morphological and microscopy analyses. Two isolates, UMKRSPL1 and UMKRSPS1, were isolated qualitatively from the infected leaves and stem respectively, that yielded dark-brown colonies of sclerotia on PDA. Under the microscopic study, the mycelia with multi-nucleolus hyphal cells were noted, which were septate and hyaline. The hyphae branched at right and acute angles to the primary hypha. There was no conidium. Pathogenicity of the fungus proved to cause similar symptoms on new, fresh parthenium leaf. Based on cultural and morphological characteristics, the pathogen was identified as Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn. There is no published study on R. solani isolated from P. hysterophorus in Malaysia. This is the first research on the species found on parthenium weed in the country. The identification of pathogens from parthenium

In vitro and in vivo biocontrol performance of Trichoderma harzianum Rifai on Ganoderma boninense Pat. related to pathogenicity on oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)

Ganoderma boninense, causes basal stem rot disease in oil palm, which leads to severe losses to the palm oil industry. The antagonistic effect of Trichoderma harzianum on G. boninense (a causal pathogen for oil palm) was tested by in vitro and in vivo studies. T. harzianum inhibited the mycelia growth of G. boninense on in vitro plate assay experiment and in vivo on the glass house grown oil palm plants. During the in vivo experiment, at first time point after one month, G. boninense development was found in oil palm root tissues in control plants whereas in T. harzianum treated plants no disease symptoms were observed until at the end of the experiment. It is a broad spectrum approach to use T. harzianum to control G. boninense infection of oil palm

Ecological status of Ganoderma and basal stem rot disease of oil palms (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)

The bracket fungus, Ganoderma boninense Pat., causes basal stem rot (BSR) disease in oil palm plants. Previously the disease was reported only in older age palms and currently found on young stages palms as well. Therefore, Ganoderma can infect all stages of oil palm plants. Disease symptoms only appear at the late stage of the disease and usually called a silent killer of oil palm. Progression of the disease is slow; however, it can destroy thousands of hectares of oil palm plantations. Basal stem rot shortens the productive life of oil palms and causes serious economic losses to the oil palm industry. Hence, BSR is considered a serious threat to the oil palm industry in South East Asian countries. To date, there is high demand for sustainable detection and control of this disease. This review paper is elaborated on the detection and ecological impact of Ganoderma and BSR disease in oil palms plantation

Mushroom quality related with various substrates’ bioaccumulation and translocation of heavy metals

Mushrooms are popular due to the nutrition contents in the fruit bodies and are relatively easy to cultivate. Mushrooms from the white-rot fungi group can be cultivated on agricultural biomass such as sawdust, paddy straw, wheat straw, oil palm frond, oil palm empty fruit bunches, oil palm bark, corn silage, corn cobs, banana leaves, coconut husk, pineapple peel, pineapple leaves, cotton stalk, sugarcane bagasse and various other agricultural biomass. Mushrooms are exceptional decomposers that play important roles in the food web to balance the ecosystems. They can uptake various minerals, including essential and non-essential minerals provided by the substrates. However, the agricultural biomass used for mushroom cultivation is sometimes polluted by heavy metals because of the increased anthropogenic activities occurring in line with urbanisation. Due to their role in mycoremediation, the mushrooms also absorb pollutants from the substrates into their fruit bodies. This article reviews the sources of agricultural biomass for mushroom cultivation that could track how the environmental heavy metals are accumulated and translocated into mushroom fruit bodies. This review also discusses the possible health risks from prolonged uptakes of heavy metal-contaminated mushrooms to highlight the importance of early contaminants’ detection for food security

Storage behaviour of exotic potato genotypes and hybrid clones under natural condition

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the storability of hybrid clones and exotic genotypes at room temperature during April to August 2011 and April to August 2012. Fourteen hybrid clones and 14 exotic genotypes were stored for five months at ambient temperature. Hybrid clones 7.33 and 7.12 showed better performance in respect of storage behaviour (minimum weight and rottage loss) at ambient temperature. The maximum storability was found in Labadia, Liseta, Albaata, Lambada and Amanda exotic genotypes. Moreover, hybrid clones 7.33 and 7.12 exhibited minimum weight and rottage loss in both the hybrid clones and the exotic genotypes. Based on their storage behaviour at ambient temperature, it may be concluded that hybrid clones 7.33 and 7.12 are found to be suitable for storage under ordinary room temperature conditions for a period of 90 to 120 days and slow release to market for avoiding distress sale

Integrated nitrogen management in increasing yield and economic profitability of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica L.)

The experiment was conducted at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University during the period of November 2014 to April 2015 with a view to assess the combined effect of inorganic and organic sources of nitrogen on yield of broccoli and to develop a combined dose under integrated plant nutrition system (IPNS) for broccoli production. Four levels of Nitrogen (N) as 140, 160 and 180 kg N ha-1 as urea super granules (USG) and 180 kg N ha-1 as prilled urea (PU) as well as three different organic nitrogen sources (IPNS based) were considered to comprise 24 treatments combinations. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. USG along with organic manures showed better yield performance regarding yield attributes and yield compared to PU. The highest head yield (14.7 t ha-1) was found in USG-N160 kg/ha+ Oil Cake (OC)2t/ha followed by USG-N180kg/ha+ OC2t/ha (14.5 t ha-1). The maximum lateral head yield (6.612 t ha-1), marginal rate of return (132), and benefit cost ratio (4.00) were recorded in USG-N160kg/ha+ Poultry manure (PM)3t/ha. The treatment PU-N180+PM3 also showed better performance regarding yield (13.7 t ha-1), harvest index (27.1%) and benefit cost ratio (BCR) (3.84). Therefore, USG @160 kg N ha-1 + 3 t ha-1 poultry manure as adjusted N126P22K62S14Zn2B1Mo0.8 kg/ ha+3 t/ha PM or PU @180 kg N/ ha + 3 t/ ha poultry manure as adjusted N146P22K62S14Zn2B1Mo0.8 ha+3 t/ ha PM can be recommended for broccoli production in Grey Terrace Soil

Cloning transcripts encoding chitinases from Elaies guineensis Jacq. and their expression profiles in response to fungal infections

We have cloned three cDNAs encoding chitinases from oil palm, EgCHI1, EgCHI2, and EgCHI3. The abundance of transcripts encoding all three chitinases was relatively higher in oil palm root tissues treated with either Ganoderma boninense or Trichoderma harzianum singly compared to that of untreated oil palm root tissues at 5 week post inoculation (wpi). The expression of EgCHI1 and EgCHI2 was also up-regulated in oil palm roots treated with a combination of G. boninense and T. harzianum at 2, 5 and 8 wpi. The up-regulation of chitinases understudied was likely a universal response of host plant to fungal attack