The
Trichoderma species act as plant symbionts,
decomposers of organic material, and as antagonists of
root phytoparasites. To estimate the potential of four native
strains of
Trichoderma as growth promoters of
Capsicum annuum L. and as biocontrol against root knot nematode
Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White) Chitwood,
two bioassays in greenhouse were established. In one,
the capacity of
Trichoderma to promote initial growth of
seedlings (36 d after planting, dap) was evaluated. In the
other, the biocontrol of
Trichoderma against
M. incognita
at 96 dap was also evaluated. The
Trichoderma strains
and the chemical fertilization treatment significantly
promoted seedling growth at 36 dap (P ≤ 0.01). With
respect to the control,
T. atroviride
promoted greater
height in the seedlings, while
T. atroviride,
T. virens
and
T. harzianum
-C2 increased fresh weight in roots (60.14%)
and both
T. atroviride and
T. harzianum-C2 produced
up to 82.30% more dry root biomass. In biocontrol, the
control plants registered the highest damage with galling
indexes of 85.50% (
P ≤ 0.01). The lowest galling indexes
were estimated with all the
Trichoderma strains (21.60%
to 35%).
Trichoderma atroviride reduced egg production
by 63% and the production of females by 14.36%, with
respect to the oxamyl nematicide. Biocontrol of the
nematode through the application of the
Trichoderma
strains favored growth of the plants in general. The fungal
species studied show potential as growth promoting agents
and as biocontrol agents
M. incognita in
C. annuum.
