In Vitro Integrated Control of Colletotrichum Gloeosporioides with Biological and Chemical Agents

To study the effect of different biological and chemical agents on the growth of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, in vitro experiments were conducted with Trichoderma spp. and two fungicides alone and in integration, at the Department of Plant Pathology, NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar, in 2006. The results indicated that all the treatments had a significant inhibitory effect on the culture of C. gloeosporioides and reduced its colony diameter. Treatments with any of the species of Trichoderma integrated with 300 mgmancozeb/L PDA were effective and did not allow any growth of the pathogen. When mancozeb was used alone at 100 mg/L PDA or 300 mg/L PDA, it reduced the growth of the pathogen by 49.21% and 100%, respectively, as compared to the control. The cultures of T. viride, T. harzianum and T. hamatum reduced the growth of C. gloeosporioides by 28.00 %, 50.40 % and 58.41 %, respectively, when used alone. The dose of 300 mg captan/L PDA reduced the colony diameter by 31.74 %, while its integration with T. hamatum reduced the growth of the pathogen by 75.07 %. It is concluded that mancozeb is more effective than captan against the pathogen. Trichoderma spp. are also effective in controlling the growth of C. gloeosporioides whether used alone or in integration with the fungicides. However, further studies are needed to evaluate their potential under field conditions