Abstract

Biowastes of mango, carrot, papaya, banana, chukandar, pomegranate, orange, mosambi, chickpea and wheat were used to study the colony formation and sporulation of Trichoderma harzianum and Paecilomyces lilacinus. In the present study, it was observed that the initiation of colony formation of the fungal bioagents was recorded after 12 h only in biowaste of carrot, mango, chukandar, banana and papaya. In general, the growth of colony formation increased with the increase in duration. The whole diameter of Petri dish was occupied by fungal mycelium after 120 h in the biowaste of carrot, mango, chukandar, banana, and papaya. Further, it was observed that the maximum number of spores/ml of T. harzianum were obtained on biowaste of carrot followed by mango, chukandar, banana, papaya, orange, mosambi, gram, pomegranate and wheat. Similarly, in case of P. lilacinus, the highest numbers of spores were recorded on biowaste of mango followed by carrot, papaya, banana, chukandar, orange, mosambi, gram, pomegranate and wheat. Evaluation of sporulation of T. harzianum and P. lilacinus on different biowastes revealed that the tested fungi showed significant increase in sporulation on biowastes of mango, carrot, banana, papaya and chukandar as compared to control (Potato Dextrose Agar [PDA]). However, on the other hand, significant reduction in fungal sporulation was observed on biowastes of orange, mosambi, pomegranate, gram and wheat as compared to control.

Key words: Biowaste, Trichoderma harzianum, Paecilomyces lilacinus, fungal sporulation, mycellial growth.