Studies on the shelf life of Trichoderma isolate in talc, prills, vermicompost, sago and dalia based formulations

Biocontrol agents including microbials and macrobials are being used against several crop pests and diseases. The microbial bioagents should be formulated properly for making the product stable, effective, safer and obviously economic in case of storage and field level application. Several workers reported that amendments like chitin and ammonium sulphate will enhance the bioefficacy of Trichoderma isolates and shows positive effect on multiplication and storage of Trichoderma sp. In the present studies, an attempt was made to develop the Trichoderma sp. formulations in form of talc, sago, dalia and pellets using bentonite and wheat flour. Ammonium sulphate (0.5% and 1%) and chitin (01%) was used to increase the storage life and multiplication of the Trichoderma sp. Sago and dalia proved to be a good substrate of the bioagent under study in comparison to the conventional substrate talc. Among the amendments in the growth media, 1% chitin may be an effective supplement to the growth media for increasing its survival in storage. The interaction studies between different substrates and amendments selected to increase the shelf life, a combination of sago and 1% chitin was found to be effective for rapid multiplication of Trichoderma isolate. The rate of decline in population was found low in alginate prills both in bentonite and wheat and higher in organic substrates as vermicompost, sago and dalia with highest rate in dalia.