article · Frontiers in Plant Science
This research investigated the use of fresh versus stored farmyard organic manure to manage *Fusarium verticillioides* infections, borer incidence, and lodging in maize plants. *F. verticillioides* is a significant maize pathogen that produces fumonisins, causes stalk rot, and reduces crop yield. The study collected samples from soil, roots, and stems at different intervals, and assessed ear and kernel rot. It found that fresh organic manure increased *F. verticillioides* infection rates in various plant parts and soil. In contrast, stored organic manure significantly decreased the frequency and suppressed the survival of the pathogen, showing effects similar to conventional herbicide and insecticide treatments. Stored manure also reduced stem borer incidence and lodging.
Managing *Fusarium verticillioides* is crucial for maize production, as this pathogen reduces crop growth and yield while producing harmful toxins. This research offers a practical, potentially sustainable method for farmers to reduce pathogen incidence and improve crop health by simply altering how they prepare organic manure.
This research provides an applied finding for agricultural practices, suggesting that storing farmyard manure for five to six months before use can effectively reduce *Fusarium verticillioides* infections and associated problems in maize. Farmers and agricultural organisations could adopt this method as a natural pest and disease management strategy, potentially reducing reliance on chemical treatments. This is a near-market application, offering a direct improvement to existing farming techniques.
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<i>Fusarium verticillioides</i>, an important maize pathogen, produce fumonisins, causes stalk rot and consequentially reduce crop growth and yield. Therefore, herein we aimed to evaluate the potential use of two farmyard soil organic manures, i.e., fresh (5-6 days old) and stored (5-6 months old) organic manure, to manage <i>F. verticillioides</i> infections as well as borer incidence and lodging in maize plants. After 30, 60, and 90 days of sowing, samples of soil, roots, and stems were collected to isolate <i>F. verticillioides</i>. Moreover, we estimated ear and kernel rot induced by <i>F. verticillioides</i> at the final harvest. Fresh organic manure treatment increased infection rates of <i>F. verticillioides</i> in soil, roots, stem and kernels compared to the control treatment. In contrast, stored organic manure plots treatments decrease <i>F. verticillioides</i> frequency. At 90 days after sowing, stored organic manure suppressed the survival of <i>F. verticillioides</i>, which reduced the <i>F. verticillioides</i> incidence percent. These results were similar to the effect of herbicides-and insecticide-treated plots demonstrated, which show a significant decrease in <i>F. verticillioides</i> incidence rates. Mycological analysis on symptomless kernels revealed a higher % of pathogen infection in opened husks variety (Balady) than closed husks variety (SC10). Compared with stored organic manure, the stem borer incidence and lodging percentage were the highest in fresh organic manure plots. Finally, these results demonstrated that storing organic manure within five to six months as farmyard manure led to high-temperature centigrade within organic manure, thereby destroying spores of <i>F. verticillioides</i>, whereas fresh organic manure did not.
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DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.998440
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