Agronomy for Sustainable Development (2015) 35, 317-324

Suenny Kelly Santos de França, Aline Figueiredo Cardoso, Denise Castro Lustosa, Edson Marcos Leal Soares Ramos, Marta Cristina Corsi de Filippi and Gisele Barata da Silva (2015)
Biocontrol of sheath blight by Trichoderma asperellum in tropical lowland rice
Agronomy for Sustainable Development 35 (1), 317-324
Abstract: Crop damage by rice sheath blight, Rhizoctonia solani, can decrease rice yield by up to 45 %. The classical control method of rice sheath blight in the Amazon region is the application of fungicides. Therefore, we tested here the efficiency of a biocontrol agent, Trichoderma asperellum, and fungicides. Two experiments of rice cultivation were carried out with seven treatments: four isolates of T. asperellum, a mixture of the four isolates, the fungicide pencycuron, and the control. The first experiment involved a randomized block design, and seed and foliar spray on all plots. The second experiment involved a split-plot design with foliar spray in main plots and the 1–2 foliar sprays in subplots. Results show that all treatments reduced sheath blight progression rate. In the randomized block experiment T. asperellum reduced disease severity by 19 %, increased grain weight by 34 %, and increased yield by 41 %. In the split-plot design experiment, the mixture of the four T. asperellum isolates grain reduced disease severity by 26 %, increased grain weight by 18.5 %, and increased yield by 26 %. Our results show for the first time that a mixed isolates of T. asperellum was efficient in reducing disease severity and increasing yield and grain weight.
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Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
evaluation - screening - selection

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Rhizoctonia solani	Rice (Oryza)	Brazil (NE)
Trichoderma asperellum (antagonist)	Rhizoctonia solani	Rice (Oryza)	Brazil (NE)