Effect of culture filtrates of Trichoderma on seed germination and seedling growth in chili

Five Trichoderma strains namely; T. virens IMI-392430, T. pseudokoningii IMI-392431, T. harzianum IMI-392432, T. harzianum IMI-392433 and T. harzianum IMI-392434 were evaluated for their potentiality on seed germination of chili both in laboratory and field conditions. Chili (Capsicum annuum L.) seeds were coated with culture filtrates of each test strains of Trichoderma supplemented with 2 % of starch (w/v) as an adhesive. For laboratory experiment, ten treated seeds were placed in each Petri plate and incubated at 25°C under dark condition and for field experiment pot trial experiment was conducted and ten treated seeds were sowing in each pot. All experiments were established as a randomized block design with four replications. Germination percentages of treated seeds were recorded after 3 to 8 days. Seed germination percentages and the vigour index were significantly (P?0.05) affected by the application culture filtrates of different Trichoderma strains. Among the five Trichoderma strains, T. harzianum IMI-3924332 culture filtrates gave the highest germination percentage and vigour index followed by T. harzianum IMI-3924333, T. harzianum IMI-3924334, T. virens IMI-392430 and T. pseudokoningii IMI-392431 both in laboratory and field conditions, respectively, while control (treated with 2% starch and water) decrease these value. Seed treatment with culture filtrates of T. harzianum IMI-3924332 can be useful to enhance the germination percent of chili seeds as well as reduce to delayed germination. Further investigations however are required to study in vivo effect of Trichoderma culture filtrate on morphological and physiological characteristics in chili plant and fruit production.