Trichoderma Bio-Fungicides Can Replace Pesticides, Fertilizers in Agriculture

“In order to control plant pathogens that cause about 35-50% damage to the producers (farmers and gardners), about 25,000 tons of chemical pesticides and 3 million tons of chemical fertilizers are used on the farms, in greenhouses and orchards across the country. Considering the complications and problems of high consumption rate of poisons and chemical fertilizers, scientists are trying to replace them partly with biological control methods,” Gholamreza Salehi Jozani, the head of the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran said.

“The biological control agenets are not only healthier and safer than chemical methods, but also they are more durable and have very little impact on the ecological balance in the environment,” he added.

Highlighting the large and expanding market of biological control agents and bio-stimulants, the researcher said, “Trichoderma fungus is one of the most successful biological control agents of plant diseases. Having strong antifungal properties against many plant-pathogenic fungi, including Fusarium, Rhizoctonia, Phytophtera, Alternaria and Pythium, Trichoderma has taken about 60% of the global market of commercial fungal biocontrol products. By secreting antibiotics, enzymes, and parasitism, this fungus causes the disintegration of hyphae and physiological disorders in plant pathogenic fungi.”

A bio-stimulant is a product that promotes the increase of microorganism populations by enhancing the environment in which they live and/or by providing food for them to consume. Bio-stimulants do not contain living microorganisms.

“This fungus easily grows on waste plant residues and settles well in every soil after entering it. Suitability for industrial production, compatibility with the Industrial fermentation, and the possibility of application in integrated control are other advantages of this fungus species compared to other fungal antagonists,” Salehi Jozani explained more.

Regarding the process of obtaining biocontrol agents and growth stimulants from the Trichoderma fungus, he said, “The first step to produce successful products based on microorganisms is to find and purify indigenous microorganisms that are suitable for the ecological conditions in a certain region, because microorganisms local to that region have better adaptability to their natural area and ecology; Therefore, in order to obtain a growth-stimulating biological product based on Trichoderma fungus in that region, about 600 Trichoderma isolates were collected, purified and identified from different regions across Iran.”

He added that in order to examine the antimicrobial impact of Trichoderma isolates on important plant pathogens, a comparison was made between Trichoderma isolates and a number of important plant pathogens. “Greenhouse and field tests of the obtained formulation indicated its 80-100% efficiency against plant pathogens. In addition, with the use of this product, the yield in the greenhouse and field increased by 20-40%, which in turn resulted in reducing the amount of chemical fertilizers used by farmers,” the researcher further said.

According to the ABRII director, among the achievements and benefits of trichoderma-based growth stimulator production are reducing the consumption of poisons and chemical fertilizers, the ability to stimulate growth and control plant pathogens at the same time, the possibility of using the same formulation in different weather conditions and plants, biological control of a wide range of plant diseases, increasing the ability to tolerate drought stress, increasing plant growth factors and increasing the survival of seedlings transferred to the field, reducing the production of polluted effluents and reducing the destruction of the environment and optimal use of agricultural waste.

It took 17 years of work and studies to complete the project at the ABRII.

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