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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #132691
Title: EFFECT OF FUNGICIDES FOR BLACK POD CONTROL ON SOIL MICROFLORA IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Author
item ASIA, PHILO - COCOA/COCONUT RES. INST.
item BLAHA, GEORGE - COCOA/COCONUT RES INST.
item HEBBAR, PRAKASH - M&M MARS, INC.
item SANOGO, SOUMAILA - UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
item Bowers, John

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/28/2002
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Populations of five groups of microorganisms were enumerated from cacao pod-baited soil and directly from soil collected from cacao plantations managed with and without fungicides for black pod control in Papua New Guinea. There were significant (P=0.05) site x fungicide interaction effects for some microbial groups. Generally, use of fungicides reduced soil populations of total fungi, Trichoderma spp., and actinomycetes in both sampling schemes. However, populations of total bacteria and Burkholderia spp. were higher in cacao soil managed with fungicides. A high percentage of a random sample of bacterial strains isolated from soil using an infected pod as bait suppressed symptom development caused by Phytophthora megakarya in a leaf disk assay. Fungicide treatment of cacao plantations lowered population numbers of the main microbial groups involved in saprophytic decomposition of infected pods, but may select for bacteria important in biological control.