Applicable control measure against Orobanche ramosa in tomato plants

Integration between mycoherbicides and herbicide (glyphosate) application for the control of branched broomrape (Orobanche ramosa) was carried out during early summer (January 2006) in a tomato field naturally infested with O. ramosa at Giza governorate, Egypt. Mycoherbicides, Trichoderma harzianum (T1 and T3) and T. viride (T2) were used in this study. Tomato seeds cv. GS12 were sown in polystyrene foam cells containing peat-moss soil inoculated three times (once/week) with each tested mycoherbicide. The herbicide glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine]was also used as a foliar spray at a rate of 50 mL/L. This was applied one time only, 10 days after tomato seedling transplantation during the growing season. Under field conditions, significant reduction in the incidence and intensity of branched broomrape infection was observed in the combined mycoherbicidal and herbicidal treatments. The application of mycoherbicides followed by foliar spray with glyphosate was the most appropriate treatment. This resulted in the highest reduction in the parasitic parameters of O. ramosa, although a lesser increase in tomato yield in comparison with the individual mycoherbicide approaches was recorded. The present work developed an effective, applicable and cost-effective method acceptable for controlling O. ramosa in tomato fields.