Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
gen infested soils with
L. terrestris
showed a signifi cant reduction of
disease caused by
Fusarium oxysporum
f. sp.
asparagi
and
F. prolifera-
tum
on susceptible cultivars of asparagus (
Asparagus offi cinalis
),
Verti-
cillium dahliae
on eggplant (
Solanum melongena
) and
F. oxysporum
f.
sp. l
ycopersici
race 1 on tomato. Plant weights increased by 60-80% and
disease severity reduced by 50-70% when soils were augmented with
earthworms. Incorporation of soil with vermicompost effectively sup-
pressed
R. solani
in wheat (Stephens et al. 1993),
Phytophthora nico-
tianae
(Nakamura 1996; Szczech 1999; Szczech and Smolinska 2001)
and Fusarium in tomatoes (Nakamura 1996; Szczech 1999),
Plasmodi-
ophora brassicae
in tomatoes and cabbage (Nakamura 1996), Pythium
and Rhizoctonia (root rot) in cucumber and radish (Simsek Ersahin et al.
2009),
Botrytis cineria
(Singh et al. 2008) and
Verticillium
(Chaoui et
al. 2002) in strawberry and
Sphaerotheca fulginae
in grapes (Edwards
et al. 2004). Vermicompost application drastically reduced the incidence
of 'Powdery Mildew', 'Color Rot' and 'Yellow Vein Mosaic' in Lady's
fi nger (Abelmoschus esculentus) (Agarwal et al. 2010). Substitution of
vermicompost in the growth media reduced the fungal diseases caused
by
R. solani, P. drechsleri
and
F. oxysporum
in gerbera (Rodriguez et
al. 2000). Amendment of vermicompost at low rates (10-30%) in hor-
ticulture bedding media resulted in signifi cant suppression of Pythium
and Rhizoctonia under green house conditions (Edwards et al. 2004).
Research fi ndings proved that vermicompost when added to container
media signifi cantly reduced the infection of tomato plants by
P. nico-
tianae
var.
nicotianae
and
F. oxysporum
sp.
lycopersici
(Szcech et al.
1993; Szczech 1999). Club-rot of cabbage caused by
P. brassicae
was
inhibited by dipping cabbage roots into a mixture of clay and vermicom-
post (Szcech et al. 1993). Potato plants treated with vermicompost were
less susceptible to
P. infestans
than plants treated with inorganic fertil-
izers (Kostecka et al. 1996a). Aqueous extracts of vermicompost inhib-
ited mycelial growth of
B. cineria, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Corticium
rolfsii, R. solani
and
F. oxysporum
(Nakasone et al. 1999), effectively
controlled powdery mildew of barley (Weltzien 1989) and affected the
development of powdery mildews on balsam (
Impatiens balsamina
) and
pea (
Pisum sativum
) caused by
Erysiphe cichoracearum
and
E. pisi
, re-
spectively in fi eld conditions (Singh et al. 2003).
