PJB-2019-648
THE EFFICACY OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI AND OLIVE CAKE TO CONTROL A CHILI PEPPER ROOT ROT PATHOGEN
KHALIFA ABO-FARAG
Abstract
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and composting can reduce plant pathogens by promoting plant growth and improving soil characteristics, respectively. The objective of the current study was to test the efficacy of AMF and olive cake (OC) only and combined against damping off disease on pepper plant under glasshouse conditions. AMF was extracted from soils collected from different locations in Jordan, identified, and manipulated on barely as plant stock culture for three months. Pepper plants were collected to recover damping off pathogens from the Jordan Valley. The fungal pathogens were morphologically and molecularly identified. Eight treatments were considered in the main experiment: AMF only, pathogen only, OC only, AMF and pathogen, OC and pathogen, AMF and OC, AMF and OC and pathogen, and control. Different plant and mycorrhizal parameters were considered. Two genera and species of fungal pathogens were identified; Fusarium spp., and Rhizoctonia solani. R. solani was considered for further experiments. AMF identified samples belonged to the Glomeraceae mycorrhizal family. Results showed that AMF only and AMF+pathogen treatments had the highest values in all parameters considered with no significant differences. On the other hand, when adding OC or pathogen to the AMF, the value for the different parameters decreased. Yet the presence of OC with the pathogen or with the AMF yielded better values for the different parameters compared with having pathogen only. In conclusion, AMF alone is a very good biological practice in controlling damping off disease, but mixing with AMF with OC decreased the efficacy of AMF only.
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