Production and Qualitative Test of Powder Formulation of Trichoderma harzianum

Abstract

Powder formulation of Trichoderma harzianum was prepared by mixing the fungal colonized sorghum seed blend with carrier at 1:3 (by weight). Prior mixing, the sorghum seeds were added with appropriate amount of water and then blended by using waring blendor. The mixture was then spread to a thin layer and ari-dried at room temperature in laboratory. Dried preparation was ground, passed through a sieve No.35 with 500 µm opening, and packed in the plastic bags. Quality assessment indicated that diatomite 1 was the most promising carrier which did not affect growth and sporulation of T. harzianum when mixed with natural soil. This formulation when stored at normal room temperature for 334 days provided 4.7 x 10⁶ cfu/gram-powder or approximately 1.1 x 10⁴ fold reduction from the 0-day-population. Barley plants grown from seeds coated with T. harzianum diatomite 1-powder preparation were significantly protected from sclerotium seedling blight. Surviving plants were 60% over the control and similar result was obtained by using seeds coated with T. harzianum.- bionic compost-powder preparation.