Cladosporium cladosporioides for disease control and defense response induction in upland rice grown under an agroecological system

Abstract

Diseases in rice crops result in yield loss and pesticide overuse. Although agroecological systems enable more sustainable production, pest and disease management difficulties make biological control essential. The aim of this study was to assess the efficiency of different C. cladosporioides C24G application techniques in controlling rice diseases under field conditions and their effect on yield, defense enzymes, photosynthetic, and photoprotective pigments. The experiment consisted of six treatments and four repetitions in two growing seasons. In both growing seasons, treatments with C. cladosporioides C24G differed from the control for all the parameters studied. Treatments involving microbiolization and additional foliar spraying did not differ from those with only two applications. For leaf scald, brown spot and grain spot, treatments suppressed up to 94.30%, 64.41%, and 86.36%, respectively. Treatments with foliar spraying increased yield by up to 46.72%. Greater increases were also observed for the enzyme and pigment experiments in treatments involving leaf spraying. As such, incorporating C. cladosporioides into rice disease management improves yield under agroecological systems, thereby contributing to increasing the use of this cultivation system.