Potencial de especies de Trichoderma como biofertilizante y control biológico en el cultivo de Oryza sativa L.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the main staples around the world, especially in Asia, the most consuming region. Rice cultivation currently faces many environmental problems caused by the contribution of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This review is carried out to document the principal findings of Trichoderma species application on rice plants. The analysis revealed that different species of Trichoderma have been applied in different fields of research on rice plants to increase the absorption of nutrients, soil fertility, tolerance to salinity, plant growth promotion and development with increased yields. Mechanisms include decomposition, mycoparasitism, cellulose degradation, and phosphate solubilizing activity. The potential for antagonistic activity against disease-causing fungi and inhibition of growth of harmful root microflora is demonstrated. This work also suggested that Trichoderma can be applied alone or together with other microorganisms to significantly promote the growth and performance of rice plants. Among the species, T. harzianum was studied mainly to determine its different roles in rice, followed by T. asperellum, T. viride, T. virens and T. atroviride. Therefore, the findings revealed the potential of the Trichoderma species as a possible biofertilizer and biological control for rice cultivation worldwide.El arroz (Oryza sativa L.) es uno de los principales alimentos básicos en todo el mundo, especialmente en Asia, la región más consumidora. El cultivo de arroz en la actualidad enfrenta muchos problemas ambientales causados por el aporte de fertilizantes químicos y plaguicidas. El objetivo de este trabajo de revisión fue documentar los principales hallazgos sobre el empleo de especies de Trichoderma en el cultivo de arroz. Este análisis reveló que diferentes especies de Trichoderma se han aplicado en diferentes campos de investigación sobre plantas de arroz para aumentar la absorción de nutrientes, la fertilidad del suelo, la tolerancia a la salinidad, promoción del crecimiento y desarrollo de las plantas con incremento en los rendimientos. Entre los mecanismos se menciona la descomposición, el micoparasitismo, la degradación de celulosa y la actividad solubilizadora de fosfatos. Se demuestra el potencial de actividad antagonista contra hongos causantes de enfermedades y la inhibición del crecimiento de la microflora perjudicial de la raíz. Este trabajo también sugirió que Trichoderma puede aplicarse solo o junto con otros microorganismos para promover significativamente el crecimiento y el rendimiento de las plantas de arroz. Entre las especies, T. harzianum se estudió principalmente para determinar sus diferentes roles en el arroz, seguido de T. asperellum, T. viride, T. virens y T. atroviride. Por lo tanto, los hallazgos revelaron el potencial de las especies de Trichoderma como un posible biofertilizante y control biológico para el cultivo de arroz en todo el mundo

Studies on High Density Planting and Nutrient Requirement of Banana in Different States of India

An experiment was conducted under the ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Fruits to study the high-density planting (HDP) and nutrient requirement of banana at six research centres across the country, including Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Gandevi (Gujarat), Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Jorhat (Assam), Kannara (Kerala) and Mohanpur (West Bengal) to enable higher productivity of banana and profit to farmers. The objective of this study was to explore the possibility of increasing productivity through the intervention of only per unit plant population (through planting system) and level of nutrition, but without any interference to the regional choices of variety (eg., choice variety Nendran for Kerala or Martaman for West Bengal), production system (mono/poly- clone, single/multi-year plantation, and POP of respective states), for which national productivity ranges are much skewed also. Results indicated that intervention of only plant density could increase the productivity of banana within the existing system of production and choice of a variety of different regions or states. The experiment was laid out in RBD with four planting densities (S1P2, S1P3, S2P2 and S2P3, where S1=2m x 3m, S2=1.8m x 3.6m, P2=2 suckers/hill, P3=3 suckers/hill), three nutrition levels (F1, F2 and F3 , which is 100%, 75% and 50% of RDF) and one with region-specific conventional planting density and nutrition (100% of RDF) practices as control. The results of this experiment showed that HDP (S1P3, 5000 plants /ha) in banana, accommodating three suckers per hill at 2m x 3m spacing increased productivity over the conventional system at the Bhubaneswar, Gandevi, Jorhat, Kannara and Mohanpur centres. The increase in productivity due to HDP (5,000/ha) over control was 28.9% (RDF 25%) to 50.6% (RDF 100%) at Bhubaneswar, 15.2% (RDF 25%) to 21.9% (RDF 100%) at Gandevi, 4.0% (RDF 25%) to 7.4% (RDF 100%) at Jorhat, 33.5% (RDF 25%) to 43.5% (RDF 100%) at Kannara and 46.5% (RDF 25%) to 79.0% (RDF 100%) at Mohanpur centre. The nutrient requirement under HDP was 100% RDF at Kannara, 75% RDF at Bhubaneswar and Mohanpur and 50% RDF at Gandevi and Jorhat centres, which indicates a saving in cost of fertilizer input by 25% -50%. It is, therefore, recommended for HDP (5000 plants/ha) in banana, accommodating three suckers per hill at 2m x 3m (6.6 ft x 3.8 ft) spacing with 50% RDF in the agro-climatic regions of Gandevi and Jorhat, with 75% RDF in the agro-climatic regions of Bhubaneswar and Mohanpur and with 100% RDF in the agro-climatic region of Kannara in order to ensure higher productivity and profit to farmers

Bio-Monitoring of Airborne Fungi and Antifungal Activity of Clerodendrum Infortanum L. Against Dominant Fungi

The present study provides baseline information on the quantitative and qualitative estimation of aeromycoflora. Burkard personal airsampler and Anderson two stage airsampler were used to detect the quantitative and qualitative estimation of aeromycoflora. 17 non-viable fungal spores were recorded with the aid of Burkard personal airsampler and 12 viable fungal genera were detected using Anderson two stage airsampler. Higher concentration airborne fungi observed in the month of March. Aspergillus sp, Ascospore, Basidiospore, Curvularia sp, Alternaria sp were found to be Nigrospora sp most predominant nonviable fungal genera whereas dominant viable genera were Aspergillus sp, Penicillium sp, Cladosporium sp, Curvularia sp, Trichoderma sp and Fusarium sp in both the environments. The result of antifungal potential of Clerodendrum infortunatum showed highest efficacy against Aspergillus sp followed by Penicillium sp and Fusarium sp. This present study provided the baseline information about the viable and non-viable concentration in the study sites. Besides the outcomes of this study along with the insightful explanation could aptly provide basis for strategizing effective preventive measures against airborne-fungi. Those are responsible for causing different agricultural crops diseases and human respiratory ailments