Trichoderma mooted to manage soil borne diseases
Source: The Sangai Express / Konsam Samita
Imphal, May 18 2021:
Instead of using chemical agents which harm the soil, farmers can adopt naturally occurring trichoderma to manage many soil borne diseases and improve their farm yield, said Assistant Professor, Dr Bireswar Sinha of Department of Plant Pathology, Central Agricultural University (CAU), Imphal.
Trichoderma is a genus of soil-dwelling fungi which improves plant growth and kills fungal pathogens.
While trichoderma are also commercially available, they cost Rs 400-500 per kilogram.
On the other hand, locally found trichoderma can be cultured at home easily and it would cost farmers less than Rs 100, said Dr Bireswar.
The College of Agricultural University, Imphal has devised a technology to culture locally found trichoderma for the benefit of the farmers.
Dr Bireswar said farmers should learn this technological know-how to culture and cultivate the trichoderma for agricultural usage.
Besides its usage in the fields for cultivation of paddy and other crops, it can also be used as a bio-control agent to prevent and manage fungal diseases and other soil borne diseases in kitchen gardens and decorative plants at home.
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Trichoderma can be cultured using readily available agricultural waste and substrates (the substance on which an enzyme acts) .
CAU has also conducted projects and training programmes on mass production of trichoderma and many farmers are getting the benefits of the technology, he said.
Trichoderma can be cultured using rice husks, sawdust mixed with sugarcane juice or sugar.
Oil cakes are then added and mixed as substrate.
After mixing thoroughly, the mixture is then put in a polypropylene bag (20/15 size) and tied tightly.
The mixture is then heated inside a pressure cooker to kill bacteria and germs.
An autoclave is used in the laboratory for sterilisation.
Here, the same principle is applied by using the heat and the pressure built up inside the cooker to sterilise the mixture.
After sterilisation, a few trichoderma is then added and mixed thoroughly and tied tightly.
The bag of mixture is then kept in a cool shade avoiding direct sunlight for 15-20 days.
The mixture should be checked at times without disturbing.
If it isn't uniformly mixed, clump formation may be seen inside the bag.
If there is clump formation, then the mixture should be stirred thoroughly again.
Trichoderma would first appear like cotton inside the bag and white mushroom spawns would be seen.
The white spawns would turn black and the trichoderma would be ready for use in 40-45 days.
Seeds can be treated with trichoderma by making a solution (1 litre water plus 10 grams of trichoderma).
1 kg of seeds are dipped in 1 litre of the solution for about 2 hours before sowing.
Trichoderma mixed with cow dung can also be spread in the field before the soil is tilled to avoid sunlight hitting the trichoderma.
Direct sunlight kills trichoderma.
The ideal times for spreading trichoderma in the field are early morning (before sunrise) and evening (after sunset), said Dr Bireswar.
This low cost technology for mass production was developed in 2018 after the CAU Imphal got a project on trichoderma from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
Interested farmers may avail trichoderma from CAU Imphal for mass production, he said.
Akoijam Deven of Thoubal Wangmataba, said CAU's training on the technology has benefited him.
He now produces enough trichoderma for use in his fields.
This bio agent kills fungal pathogens and improves growth of plants and vegetables.
His farm produces have increased and more importantly, trichoderma is environment friendly, Deven said.
(This article is written under the Media Fellowship Program in Scientific Journalism of the Public Relations and Media Management Cell, CAU Imphal.
Dr Indira Thounaojam, Information & Publicity Officer, PRMM Cell can be contacted at [email protected] to know more about this article and related information) .