Trichoderma
What is Trichoderma?
Trichoderma fungicide has been widely used in agricultural applications due to its well-known biological control mechanism.
It’s a fungus widely distributed in nature and is an important community of soil microorganisms. Since discovering the antagonistic effect of Trichoderma spp on plant pathogenic fungi, it began to receive attention and then was widely used in agricultural production.
There are about 80 kinds of Trichoderma fungus known on the earth, which can produce spores rapidly. The main ones that can be marketed are Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma viride, Trichoderma longibrachiatum, Trichoderma koningii.
Trichoderma Use in Agriculture
The mechanism of action of Trichoderma almost includes all possible mechanisms, which is an important reason why Trichoderma has a wide range of uses and outstanding effects. 1. Competitive Effect Trichoderma grows fast and has strong vitality. It can quickly occupy the growth space, absorb the required nutrients, and weaken and eliminate other pathogens in the same-growing environment. 2. Heavy Parasitism Trichoderma can parasitize about 18 genera such as Pythium, Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia solani, and Downy mold. They directly invade or entangle the hyphae, causing pathogenic bacteria cells to expand, deform, shorten, round, contract protoplasm, and rupture the cell wall. 3. Synergistic Antagonism Trichoderma can inhibit the growth, reproduction, and infection of pathogenic bacteria by producing small-molecule antibiotics and large-molecule antibacterial proteins or cell wall degrading enzymes. The antagonistic effect of Trichoderma may be a combination of two or three biocontrol mechanisms simultaneously or sequentially. 4. Induced Resistance Trichoderma can induce the host plant to produce a defense response. While inhibiting the growth and reproduction of the pathogen, it can also induce the crop to produce a self-defense system to obtain local or systemic disease resistance. Main control targets: beans, peanuts, kidney beans, soybeans, cowpeas, peas, cucumbers, western Melon, tomato, pepper, eggplant, strawberry, grape, apple, orange, beet, rape, lily, etc.
Reference：https://doraagri.com/product-category/biocontrol-agents/trichoderma-fungi/