Formulation and Evaluation of Sugarcane Bagasse-based Bio-control Agents for Sustainable Phytopathogen Management

Bio-control agents are microbiological-based alternatives to agrochemicals due to their sustainable attributes in controlling phytopathogens. This research highlights the isolation and formulation of bio-control agents using sugarcane bagasse as a carrier matrix. The isolated rhizospheric organisms were screened for antibiosis traits using the agar streak method. Bacterial isolates that showed positive traits were further identified phenotypically. Preparation of the carrier was done by oven drying the sugarcane bagasse at 90⁰C for 3 days, ground and sieved using a 1.16 mm sieve. For the bio-control formulation, 200ml of biocontrol inoculum was added to 20g of sugar cane bagasse for each organism to form the final products. Water and adhesion capacities were conducted on the three formulations and afterwards the in vivo antagonistic potential of the formulants was assessed on maize cultivation for 21 days. A total of 9 isolates were obtained, only three (3) showed antagonistic activity for antibiosis trait which were used for the formulation branded as ZEEMYC (Mycobacterium spp), ZEEPAS (Pseudomonas spp), and ZEEBAC (Bacillus spp), respectively. The water capacity of the three formulations were between 6.9g - 9.9g, respectively while adhesion capacity was also displayed. At day 5, maize seeds in all pots sprouted except diseased seeds without bio-control (DS). At day 11, plant height, shoot length and root length ranged between (36.5cm-39cm), (31.cm-34cm), (5cm-6cm) for plants with biocontrol agent, control was 42cm, 34.5cm, 7.5cm while barely visible growth was observed in DS. This study displays the potential of natural-based biocontrol agent in controlling phytopathogen Aspergillus niger.