Guava with Trichoderma plus compost fertilizer beats root-knot nematodes, grows better, yields abundantly and tastes great

A great helper for plants fighting pests and diseases, Trichoderma is here! After 17 years of research and development, the Taichung Agricultural Research and Extension Station has selected Trichoderma TCT768, which suits Taiwan's environment, and added it to compost. When spread in fields and orchards, it lets crops quickly absorb nutrients and grow stronger, and it can induce beneficial bacteria to help plants resist the troublesome "root-knot nematode."

In recent years, because of climate change, root-knot nematodes have become a headache for all kinds of crops, especially guava and dragon fruit; after a long period of cultivation, root-knot nematodes appear on the roots. But if actinomycetes are used directly for control, the application rate affects the control effect, and 1 kg of the original bacteria costs 1,800-2,000 yuan, which is quite expensive. To lower farmers' costs, inoculating spent mushroom waste with Trichoderma can produce compost containing large amounts of actinomycetes, which has both fertilizer effect and actinomycetes, is cheap and works even better.

At present, the Taichung Agricultural Research and Extension Station has transferred the Trichoderma technology and cooperated with industry to develop the solid fertilizer "Gubaojun" and a liquid fertilizer, testing them in guava orchards, bitter gourd fields and many other crops in central Taiwan, with remarkable results: on average they can reduce fruit drop by 30% and increase yields by 25%-50%.

Tailor-made tropical strains help plants resist extreme weather

As the name suggests, Trichoderma was originally "a fungus found on moldy wood." In the laboratory of Chen Junwei, director of the Puli Branch of the Taichung Agricultural Research and Extension Station, he took out past cultures and preserved Trichoderma strains and introduced them: "There are many varieties of Trichoderma, commonly divided into temperate and tropical types. Because Taiwan's climate is hot and humid, we finally selected the tropical type TCT768."

Recalling the opportunity for the research, Chen Junwei, director of the Puli Branch of the Taichung Agricultural Research and Extension Station, said: "Actually, the main character at the beginning was not Trichoderma, but compost." Starting in the 93rd year of the Republic of China, the Taichung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station developed compost. To improve the odor during compost fermentation, researchers kept looking for materials that could accelerate fermentation, and that was how they found Trichoderma.

Speeding up nutrient decomposition, Trichoderma becomes a crop guard

Trichoderma is a type of fungus; the shiitake and wood ear mushrooms commonly seen in supermarkets are its relatives. The key to accelerating fermentation is that it can decompose cellulose, breaking the originally larger cellulose into smaller mono- and disaccharides, making it easy for bacteria to consume. It is like a newborn baby needing its mother to help chew food first so it is easier to swallow.

The protective mechanism Trichoderma exerts on plants is: Trichoderma first converts nutrients into mono- and disaccharides, which stimulates the proliferation of actinomycetes that feed on mono- and disaccharides, and actinomycetes can suppress an important crop pest: the root-knot nematode. Actinomycetes multiply in large numbers in the soil and decompose the root-knot nematodes and their eggs, which are made of chitin, thus achieving the effect of protecting plants.

With Trichoderma added, the value of spent mushroom wood chips increases tenfold

The opportunity for the Taichung Agricultural Research and Extension Station to develop compost with added Trichoderma was to solve two major agricultural wastes across Taiwan: chicken manure and spent mushroom wood chips. After 6 years of screening, Trichoderma TCT768, which suits Taiwan's climate, was selected, and through the introduction of Lin Zhangji, chairman of the Taichung Taiping District Farmers' Association, cooperation with the Taichung Jingyuan Mushroom Farm began in the 105th year of the Republic of China.

The Jingyuan Mushroom Farm, which has been operating for 18 years, has a huge factory building that can hold 288,000 mushroom-growing bottles and mainly produces king oyster mushrooms. After disinfection, plastic bottles are filled with wood, rice bran, soybean meal and so on, then inoculated with king oyster mushroom spawn so they can reproduce and grow. Because each bottle of king oyster mushrooms is harvested only once and is not harvested continuously like shiitake, the material underneath is still rich in nutrients and is a good material for making compost.

Behind the factory building are two small piles: one is the material for filling plastic bottles, and the other is the waste material after growing mushrooms. Every day 8 tons of waste are produced. Farm director Lin Zhangde said: "In the past, this waste was sold to recycling yards, and one truckload could bring at most 4,000 to 5,000 yuan. Now it is used as compost material, and the same truckload can bring back 60,000 yuan."

The production process of Trichoderma compost is: first add Trichoderma to a liquid compost inoculant for cultivation, then add it to the spent mushroom waste for piled fermentation. After 1-2 months it can be packaged into bags and given to farmers to spread.

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