NEWS

Our colleagues from the Seed Technology department in collaboration with the University of Barcelona have demonstrated the benefits of a Trichoderma-based biological seed treatment in maize under water stress.

Virginia Estévez and Juan Jesús Narváez, colleagues from the Seed Technology department, in collaboration with the research team of professor Dr Maria Isabel Trillas (University of Barcelona) and within the framework of the “Industrial PhD” programme of the Government of Catalonia, have published an article in the international magazine PLANTA. This magazine is one of the most prestigious in the world in its field, positioned in the upper quartile in terms of scientific impact in plant biology.

This article demonstrates the beneficial effects of applying the fungus Trichoderma asperellum strain T34 to maize under conditions of severe water stress. In addition, the study tested a conventional chemical fungicide based seed treatment and the combination of the two on seeds.

At the end of the test, the plants with the T34 strain in the roots obtained a significantly higher dry weight and number of grains in the cob. In addition, the final content of carbon and phosphorus in these was increased. Under water stress conditions and by measuring the gas exchange at the leaf surface, an improvement in the relative water content and efficiency, as well as in photosynthesis, was observed in plants with T34.

Therefore, the results of this research demonstrate that:

• Treating seeds with a biological phytosanitary agent (T34) can improve the physiology of the plant both under normal irrigation conditions and under severe water stress (drought) in maize (Zea mays).

• A combined seed treatment (biological and chemical phytosanitary: fungicide) is possible for the same seed (and remains viable two years after treatment according to results published at the MICROPE international congress held in Vienna, Austria in 2018).