Evaluation of Some Treatments in Combating the Mung Plant Against Chronic Pneumonia Caused by The Fungus Macrophomina Phaselina

Abstract

The study was conducted in Diyala Province, specifically in Al-Miqdadiyah district. The pathogenic fungus Macrophomina phaseolina was isolated from mung bean plants showing symptoms of wilting and yellowing of leaves. The treatment of the pathogenic fungus significantly outperformed the control in terms of disease management, achieving the highest infection rate and severity, which reached 73.8% and 0.76, respectively.

The study revealed, through testing the local variety of mung beans, its sensitivity and resistance to the disease, as well as its impact on growth characteristics.

Additionally, the study demonstrated the evaluation of the effectiveness of three types of plants (fenugreek, mung beans, and soybeans) in a laboratory disease test to inhibit the growth of plant seeds. Fenugreek proved to be the most sensitive, with a 30% damage rate, while mung beans and soybeans showed 20% damage.

Some field treatments and agricultural applications have contributed to reducing the infection rate and severity. One of these treatments is the biocontrol agent, T. harzianum, which played a significant role in this regard.

The study also showed the significant impact of several factors and agricultural applications in reducing the infection rate and severity. These factors include salicylic acid, potassium phosphate, the fungicide Amistar (active ingredients: difenoconazole and azoxystrobin), both individually and in combination, as well as their application methods on seed treatment and seedling irrigation.

The use of these treatments demonstrated significant superiority, except for the combination of the biocontrol agent T. harzianum with salicylic acid and potassium phosphate, and when using the seedling irrigation method. In this case, it achieved a notable reduction in infection rate and severity, with T1.P1 reaching 31.4% and 0.33%, and T1.S1 reaching 27.8% and 0.31%, compared to the control treatment contaminated with the pathogenic fungus. The influence of these treatments inversely reflected on the reduction in loss of growth characteristics, with the total wet and dry weight of both roots and shoots in the treatment of the combination of the biocontrol agent T. harzianum, salicylic acid, and potassium phosphate being 3.66 g and 34.61 g, respectively, and 3.08 g and 34.91 g, respectively, compared to the contaminated control, which had 0.24 g and 12.9 g, respectively.