The Effect of Combined Application of Biocontrol Microorganisms and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Plant Growth and Yield of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Sustainable plant production requires less use of synthetic chemicals in plant nutrition and protection. Microbial products are among the most promising substitutes for chemicals. With the increasing popularity and availability of such products, it has become obligatory to use different microbes together. The effect of this has been tested in several studies, but their results have sometimes been contradictory depending on the microbial strains tested and the mode of application. We tested the effect of two commercially available antagonists and Funneliformis mosseae alone and in combination on tomato. Mycorrhizal treatment increased plant growth and yield, both alone and combined with the antagonists; however, mycorrhizal root colonization was not influenced by the antagonist. This treatment also led to a slight decrease in the occurrence of Trichoderma spp. on tomato roots but did not impede the colonization of roots by the applied Trichoderma strain. Our result confirmed that Trichoderma asperellum (T34) and Streptomyces griseoviridis (K61) can be safely combined with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), namely with F. mosseae.