Biological control of the fungi causing root rot disease of Eggplant plants

The study aimed to identify some causes of eggplant root rot disease after isolation and diagnosis in some areas of Babylon Governorate and to evaluate the efficiency of the biological fungus Trichoderma harzianum and extract of some plants in control the pathogens of eggplant seedling death disease. The results of the field survey conducted in the fields of eggplant plants in the province of Babylon showed the presence of root rot in the eggplant in all areas covered by the field survey. Several types of fungi were isolated and identified from the roots of eggplant plants infected with root rot disease. The most frequent pathogenic fungi were Fusarium solani, Rhizoctonia solani, and Macrophomina phaseolina. The results showed that all tested fungi isolates were pathogenic and caused a significant reduction in the percentage of germination of cabbage and eggplant seeds. The results of the pot experiment showed that all the treatments that included the biological factor and aqueous Acacia extract had a significant effect in reducing the growth of pathogenic fungi, especially when the treatments were combined, as measured by the percentage of infection and the severity of infection in the treatment of pathogenic fungi F. solani, R. solani and M. phaseolina, Alone, the infection rate was 100.00%, and the severity of the infection was 76.67, 70.00 and 66.67%, respectively. The treatment of integration between the biological factor T. harzianum and the aqueous extract of Acacia achieved high superiority in reducing the infection rate, as it ranged between 11.11-24.33% and the severity of infection 4.44-15.00%. Keywords: Plant extracts, Eggplant, fungi, root rot, Trichoderma harzianum.