Compost and Glomus mosseae for Management of Bacterial and Fusarium Wilts of Tomato

Abstract

Bacterial and fungal wilts cause considerable yield loss in tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill.), and required sustainable control strategies to reduce their incidence. Tomato was inoculated with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae (Nicolson & Gerdemann) Gerd. et Trappe, and treated with organic and inorganic fertilizers to determine effects on severity of tomato wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) and Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. f. sp. lycopersici Sacc. (Fol) in greenhouse and field studies. In the greenhouse, Fol significantly increased wilt of control plants relative to compost-fertilized and G. mosseae-inoculated plants. No fruit was produced by in-organically fertilized plants inoculated with R. solanacearum, while few fruit were obtained from Fol-infected plants. In the field tomato plants fertilized with compost made from cassava peel waste and poultry droppings plus 60 kg NPK had the highest survival of over 50%, while droppings only< 17% of control plants which received no fertilizer survived. Tomato wilt severity was reduced slightly with G. mosseae relative to the control. In the field, year and fertilizer significantly affected numbers of fruit. Compost alone significantly increased numbers of fruit and yield relative to controls. Application of an additional 60 kg ha-1 of urea to compost significantly decreased survival of tomato in the field. Fertilizer treatment and mycorrhizal inoculation increased the vitamin C content of tomato.