Field efficacy in controlling mango diseases of antagonist Talaromyces tratensis KUFA 0091 in fresh and dry formulations

The application times and doses of fresh and dry formulations of Talaromyces tratensis KUFA 0091 were evaluated for their antagonistic activity in controlling mango diseases, anthracnose and stem-end rot diseases, under field conditions on two mango cultivars—namely, Nam Dok Mai Si Thong and Nam Dok Mai No. 4. The results show that three applications result in significantly more reduced disease severity than two and one applications. However, a high dose of the fresh formulation at 10⁸ spores/ mL of the antagonistic fungus resulted in higher antagonistic activity in controlling mango diseases than the dry formulation and lower doses in both mango cultivars. Treatment of three applications at the flowering, fruit-setting, and fruit-developing stages of the fresh formulation at 10⁸ spores/ mL had the best disease reduction at 80%–87%, followed by the dry formulation, which caused 75%–78% disease reduction. Meanwhile, the three applications of fresh and dry formulations at 10⁶ spores/mL also displayed significant biocontrol efficacy of 70%–79% disease reduction. Its culture filtrate at 50% completely inhibited the spore germination of the anthracnose pathogen. The dry formulation also showed high efficacy on post-harvest disease in mango fruits. Moreover, the antagonistic fungus showed comparable efficacy with fungicides at a label rate with propineb (1,750 ppm), azoxystrobin (250 ppm), and mancozeb (1,600 ppm). The results indicate that this fungus can act as an effective biological control or be combined with fungicides for integrated mango disease management.