Testing The Effectiveness of Biological Agents in Controlling Disease-Causing Pathogens In Vitro

Alternative plant disease control can be carried out using biological agents in an effort to reduce chemical pesticides. The antagonistic mechanism possessed by biological agents has been widely used as an effective and environmentally friendly alternative. Biological agents that are often used for biocontrol include Trichoderma sp. and Gliocladium sp.. This experiment aims to determine the comparative antagonism of Trichoderma spp. and Gliocladium biological agents against Curvularia spp. and Fusarium spp. This experiment was conducted to test the antagonism of biological agents. The experimental factors tested to determine the inhibitory effect were Trichoderma sp. and Gliocladium sp. isolates. Next, pure cultures of Trichoderma sp. and Gliocladium spp., which were 7 days old, were inoculated into the medium to observe the contact between Trichoderma sp. and Curvularia sp, Trichoderma sp. and Fusarium sp., Gliocladium sp and Curvularia sp., and Gliocladium sp and Fusarium sp. The antagonistic test results showed that the Trichoderma sp. biological agent treatment was able to optimally inhibit the growth of Curvularia sp. and Fusarium sp. The Gliocladium sp. treatment was able to inhibit the growth of Fusarium sp., but was less optimal in inhibiting the growth of Curvularia sp.