FORMULATION OF TRICHODERMA SPP. AS A BIOCONTROL AGENT USING DIFFERENT FORMS OF TAPIOCA

Abstract:

Laboratory assessment, of the formulation of Trichoderma spp as biocontrol agent using different tapioca forms which are whole form, coarse blend and fine blend. This study was conducted at Faculty of Agriculture laboratories, University of Benin, Benin City to cultivate and multiply Trichoderma spp for use in formulations. The experimental design used was Completely Randomized Design(CRD) and it was replicated three times. Data was analysed using GenStat release version 12th edition Statiscal package.The result indicated generally that there was no significant effects among the tapioca treatments. However, the coarse blend had the highest mean value (47.94g) of the treatment types when compared to the rest of the treatment after formulation. Also, Trichoderma spp spores was recovered after dissolving a pellet 1.9.g in 10ml of Sterile distilled water (SDW) and cultured into a Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) plates by adding a drop of the solution. From, the result, it is concluded that coarse blend of tapioca should be used for formulation of Trichoderma spp pellets to replace inorganic substances for crop production.