Effectiveness and Compatibility of Bacillus and Trichoderma in Increasing Disease Tolerance of Garlic to Basal Rot Caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cepae

Abstract

The main obstacle to garlic cultivation is the attack of Fusarium oxypsorum f. sp. cepae (FOCe) causes basal rot. Bacillus and Trichoderma are popular antagonist microorganisms that can act as biological control agents (BCA). This paper would like to report on the effectiveness and compatibility of Bacillus sp. and Trichoderma sp. as a biological control of basal rot of garlic based on laboratory and Greenhouse tests. The results of in vitro studies show that Bacillus and Trichoderma are potential antagonist agents through antibiosis and even Trichoderma through competition. Meanwhile, in vivo, the two biological control agents were not effective in reducing wilting intensity but effective in reducing basal rot intensity and increasing disease tolerance. Increasing disease tolerance is showed by the yield that is higher significantly than those control with no BCA. Bacillus sp. and Trichoderma sp. have been shown to be incompatible BCA based on both in vitro and in vivo tests, which are indicated by the effectiveness of the combination application being less effective than alone.