Prevalence and in Vitro Potency of Native Trichoderma Isolates Against the Rhizome Rot of Ginger

Abstract

An overview of the natural prevalence of ginger soft rot caused by Fusarium oxysporum was conducted at two distinct locations across nine districts in Manipur, namely Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Churchandpur, Chandel, Tamenglong, Senapati, and Ukhrul. Soft rot incidence ranged from 56.00 to 19.33% and highest (56.00%) was found at Makhan of Senapati district and lowest (19.33%) at Litan of Ukhrul district. The antagonistic potential of Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma viride, and eight native Trichoderma isolates against Fusarium oxysporum, the causal pathogen, was evaluated in vitro. In these tests, T. viride emerged as the most effective in inhibiting the growth of F. oxysporum, achieving a maximum inhibition rate of 94.10 percent, while the isolate ThCAUNCIPM-4 exhibited the least inhibition at 82.56 percent. The impact of volatile compounds generated by Trichoderma spp. on F. oxysporum varied between 26.27% and 46.27%, with T. viride showing the greatest inhibition at 46.27%. In terms of non-volatile compounds, inhibition levels ranged from 7.06% to 12.94% at a concentration of 7.5% (v/v) and from 7.84% to 21.18% at 15% (v/v). The isolate T. viride achieved the highest inhibition rates at both 7.5% and 15% (v/v) concentrations, with percentages of 12.94% and 21.18%, respectively.