Neem cake carrier prolongs shelf life of biocontrol fungus Trichoderma viridae

ABSTRACT

Sustainable increase in agricultural productivity to feed the growing population demands eco-friendly remedies including the use of biocontrol agents to control diseases in food crops. Trichoderma spp. is one such agent which provides multiple plant health benefits, like disease control, plant growth promotion, development of resistance and stress tolerance. However, inappropriate concentration and less effective formulations with a poor shelf life of Trichoderma spp. have hampered its customized applications at large scale. Here, we studied the influence of various parameters on growth and mass production of customized applications of Trichoderma spp., including carrier materials, its shelf life and evaluation of antifungal activity of T. viridae. We observed optimum growth of T. viridae at 40°C, pH 6.0, maximum sporulation at 45°C and pH 6.0, with cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose as a best utilizable carbon source. Neem cake came out as an excellent carrier as it gave a prolonged shelf life of 200 days during storage at 28°C with 35.78×106 cfu g-1 of T. viridae. Antifungal assay against plant pathogenic fungi revealed complete inhibition of growth and sporulation of fungal pathogens.