INTRODUCTION

Trichoderma spp. have the potential to enhance rice germination, vigour, growth and physiological characteristics and yield. We notice that Trichoderma could be useful to rice agroecosystem. Trichoderma can probably provide optimal ecosystem services under SRI management system which relies on slightly aerobic, unsaturated soil condition and the absence of toxic chemicals, and therefore provides an ideal condition for Trichoderma to thrive unabated.

CONCLUSION

METHODS

REFERENCES

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

(2) The most effective carrier was determined using sugarcane bagasse and corn for soil treatment in rice growth.

(1) Seven local isolates of Trichoderma were tested for their ability to enhance rice germination, vigour, growth, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration, CO2 internal

concentration and transpiration rate.

FEBRI DONI, ANIZAN ISAHAK, NORELA SULAIMAN, CHE RADZIAH CHE MOHD ZAIN, ABIDAH ASHARI, WAN MOHTAR WAN YUSOFF*

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

*wantar@ukm.edu.my

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

P290

The long term use of high levels of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has led to serious environmental

problems such as depletion of soil quality and health, emergence of resistant pathogens and reduction in the

number and diversity of soil microbes beneficial to the growth of paddy. Paddy yields must be achieved

through improvement in agricultural productivity based on low input and environmental sustainability. The

use of bio-enhancers such as Trichoderma, an aerobic fungi is one of the low input alternatives recognised to

increase productivity. While known for its ability to promote plant growth and protect plants from pathogens,

the effect of this fungi on the growth and productivity of rice is little known, until recently. Being aerobic in

nature, optimum effect of Trichoderma application on rice crop is expected to be achievable under System

of Rice Intensification (SRI), alternate wet and dry (AWD) and aerobic rice systems. Here we report our

study on the ability of Trichoderma spp. to enhance rice germination, seedling growth, vegetative growth

and physiological processes under SRI as well to determine the best carrier for Trichoderma.

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Treatments

Length of shoot (cm) Length of root (cm) Weight of shoot Weight of root

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Effect of Trichoderma spp. on germination rate and vigour index

Germination rate (%) Vigour index

The length of shoot and root seedling by Trichoderma spp. were significantly greater than the control (untreated). However, it was not significant on the weight of shoot and root basis. Trichoderma sp. SL2 has the highest ability to stimulate seedling root elongation compared to other strains.

Inoculation of the rice seeds with Trichoderma spp. significantly increased rice seed germination rate, vigour index and speed of germination. Vigour index was highest in the treatment of Trichoderma sp. SL2.

Effect of Trichoderma spp. on length of shoot and length of root

Trichoderma spp. colonized rice

seedling

Trichoderma sp. SL2 resulted better growth compared to control

Control

Control

The results of the experiments showed that treatment of rice plants with the isolated Trichoderma spp. has a significant effect on the physiological processes and characteristics of the rice plants.

The general assessment from this experiment is that the application of Trichoderma

spp. to rice plants significantly increased the physiological properties of the rice plants .

The use of Trichoderma

sp.SL2 resulted better growth compared to control.

Comparison of plant height, leaf number, tiller number, root length, root dry weight and root wet weight in different treatments

Treatment

Net

photosynthetic

rate

(µmolCO2 m-2s-1)

Stomatal

conductance

(mmol H2O m-2s-1)

Transpiration

(mmol H2O m-2s-1)

Internal CO2

concentration

(ppm)

T1 8.79* 979.08* 10.09* 358.91*

T2 8.66* 412.40* 7.56* 336.97*

T3 8.47* 1237.88* 10.60* 363.79*

T4 6.88* 752.65* 9.58* 358.60*

T5 7.38* 499.54* 8.40* 348.35*

T6 8.60* 1084.76* 10.20* 361.75*

T7 6.74* 712.38* 8.94* 361.23*

NPK 2.09* 340.16* 4.23* 376.69*

Control 6.21* 818.30* 9.29* 365.74*

Comparison of net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration and internal CO2 concentration in different treatments

Means with * was significantly different between treatments according to LSD at p < 0.05

Changes in the water use efficiency by the different treatments

a) Rice plants inoculated with Trichoderma significantly enhanced the water use efficiency compared to NPK treatment and control. b) Trichoderma sp. SL2 formulated with corn as carrier significantly increased rice seedling growth.

SRI rice treated with Trichoderma sp. SL2 in Jembal, Kelantan (Farmer Trial)

Formulation of Trichoderma sp. SL2 Inoculants Using Different Carriers for Soil Treatment

in Rice Seedling Growth Treatment Height (cm) Root length

(cm)

Wet Weight

(g)

Leaf

number

Biomass

(g)

Trichoderma sp.

SL2 with corn

32.09 ns* 12.8 a** 2.78 a 6.2 ns 0.64 a

Trichoderma sp.

SL2 with

sugarcane bagasse

30.4 ns 11.1 a 1.29 b 5.6 ns 0.35 b

Control 26.3 ns 7.8 b 0.10 c 4.8 ns 0.20 c *ns = Not Significant **Means with the same letters within the column do not differ significantly according to LSD (p<0.05)

1Cai F, Yu G, Wang P, Wei Z, Fu L, Shen Q, Chen W (2013) Harzianolide, a Novel Plant Growth Regulator and Systemic Resistance Elicitor from Trichoderma harzianum. Plant Physiol Biochem 73:106-113. 2Contreras-Cornejo HA, Macías-Rodríguez L, Cortés-Penagos C, López-Bucio J (2009) Trichoderma virens, a Plant Beneficial Fungus, Enhances Biomass Production and Promotes Lateral Root Growth Through an Auxin-Dependent Mechanism in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 149: 1579-1592. 3Doni F, Al-Shorgani NKN, Tibin EMM, Abuelhassan NN, Anizan I, Che Radziah CMZ, Wan Mohtar WY (2013) Microbial Involvement in Growth of Paddy. Curr Res J Biol Sci 5(6): 285-290. 4Harman GE (2006) Overview of Mechanisms and Uses of Trichoderma spp. Phytopathol DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-96-0190. 5Nawrocka J, Malolepsza U (2013) Diversity in plant systemic resistance induced by Trichoderma. Biol Control 67:149–156. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2013.07.005.

We thank Captain Zakaria Kamantasha, Tuan Haji Marzuki Md. Zin and Tuan Sulaiman Wagiman for providing us rice seeds for this experiment. This research is financially funded by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia under grant ETP-2013-070, Komuniti-2012-001, Komuniti-2012-007 and DLP-2013-023, and Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia under knowledge transfer program grant PHUM-2014-002. First author would like to acknowledge the support given by SRI-Rice Cornell University.

The 4th International Rice Congress (IRC2014), 27 October - 1 November 2014 in Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC)

Trichoderma

Environmental buffering against salinity, drought, cold and pH4

Enhance rice germination, vigor, seedling growth, vegetative growth, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, internal CO2 concentration and water use efficiency (This experiment)

Selulose degradation, P solubilization and siderophore production3

Increasing yield and protect rice from adverse environment (This experiment) Releasing elicitors5 and

producing harzianolide1

Improving root development and auxin production2

Plant Growth Promoting Effects of Trichoderma to Rice Plants

Trichoderma and SRI Farmers

Rice variety MRQ74 was used for this experiment. Rice seeds were grown in autoclaved sandy clay loam soil under green house condition (26 – 34 0C) placed in a seedling tray. Seven day-old rice seedlings of MRQ74 were transplanted one seedling in 15 x 15 cm plastic containers containing different Trichoderma treatments, NPK treatment and control. Water was maintained at 2 cm level from the soil surface, and actively aerated using a weeder once every ten days. Rice physiological and growth components were measured 30 days after transplanting. Measurements for physiological characteristics were made on flag leaves of MRQ74 rice plants using a LICOR 6400 portable photosynthesis system (Lincoln, Nebraska, USA) and infrared gas analyser (IRGA). This measurement was taken on a clear sunny day between 09:45 am until 11:30 pm under a saturated light condition (solar radiation > 1200 µmol.m-2.s-1).