Effect of Trichoderma Harzianum On Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum L.) Seed Germination, Seedling Vigour and Root-Knot Incidence

Abstract

Tomato is a major crop of high economic importance cultivated worldwide with high yields per unit area of land compared with other tropical vegetables. One of the major challenges with production in the tropics is the infestation of root-knot nematodes. Laboratory and field experiments were carried out to study the effect of different concentrations as well as different durations of exposure of Trichoderma harzianum (Eco-T) as seed treatment to manage root knot nematode and to evaluate T. harzianum effects on seed germination and seedling performance on tomato (UC 82 variety) conducted in the dry season from February 2017 to May 2017 in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. A Completely Randomised Design (CRD) was used in the laboratory study. It comprised 25 seeds sown in per Petri-dish replicated four times. The effect of the seeds coated with Trichoderma harzianum (Eco-T) at concentrations of 0 g, 0.2 g, 0.25 g, 0.3 g, 0.35 g, and 0.4 g/10 g of seed prior to sowing indicated that T. harzianum (Eco-T) at the rates of 0.2 g and 0.4 g/10 g of seed produced higher germination percentage, root and shoot lengths of seedlings and seedling vigour. A follow up study arranged in a 3x2 factorial treatment combination laid out in CRD to evaluate the different durations of Eco-T at 30 min, 1hr, 3 hrs, 6 hrs, 8 hrs, 24 hrs, 30 hrs, 48 hrs, and no coating using the recommended rate (0.2 g/10g seeds) showed treatment for 30 minutes and 3 hrs, giving higher seed germination, root and shoot lengths, and seedling vigour respectively. A combination of concentrations (0 g, 0.2 g, and 0.4 g/10 g of seed) and exposure duration (30 min and 3 hrs) resulted in optimum germination, root and shoot lengths as well as seedling vigour for 0.4 g/10 g of seed at 30 minutes exposure. A field study arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 4 replications was employed to study the influence of T. harzianum (Eco-T) as seed treatment against root-knot nematodes. Velum (Fluopyram 400 SC) at a rate of 3.8 mL/7 L of water was used as a standard reference product. Impact of the treatments on seedling emergence, plant growth, incidence of nematode root knots, nematode populations, egg masses, and yield of UC 82 tomato were recorded. Trichoderma harzianum (Eco-T) treatments were effective in reducing nematode populations and root galling, comparable to the Velum (Fluopyram 400 SC). Plant growth was significantly influenced by both T. harzianum and Velum (Fluopyram 400 SC) treatments. Yield however was higher in Velum (Fluopyram 400 SC) although the differences were not significant compared to T. harzianum. A partial budget analysis suggested application of T. harzianum to as cost-effective option compared to Velum (Fluopyram 400 SC).