DITROPHIC INTERACTION BETWEEN GLOMUS MOSSEAE AND PHYTOPHTHORA INFESTANS IN JUTE MALLOW (CORCHORUS OLITORIUS) SEEDLINGS AT DIFFERENT AGES

Corchorus olitorius is one of the cheapest sources of minerals and vitamins being rich in folic acids used for removal of folacin deficiency in pregnant women in Africa. Proper supply of this vegetable is affected by soil-borne pathogens, causing root-rot, damping off of seedlings, or other diseases in plants. This study, ditrophic interaction between Glomus mosseae fungus and Phytophthora infestans and their subsequent effects on the growth of jute mallow plants at different ages was carried out both in the laboratory and greenhouse. Six different treatment factors were used with three replicates for each treatment in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). At different ages of the seedlings, different measurements of the growth parameters were taken as agronomic data. The collected data were subjected to the Analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS).At different ages (4, 6, and 8 weeks), inoculation with P. infestans significantly reduced the growth parameters of jute mallow, in contrast to the growth response and biomass of jute mallow seedlings inoculated with G. mosseae. This was found to be significantly higher than that of non-mycorrhizal plants, both in the presence and absence of the pathogen in the greenhouse. Regression analysis of this study shows that there is significant difference in the number of weeks among the growth parameters; it reveals a coefficient of determination (R2) that is near perfect fit while treatments show significant difference based on the increase in ages of the jute mallow seedlings. It can then be concluded that, Glomus mosseae fungus acting as a bio-protective agent was able to suppress the incidence and severity of Phytophthora infestans in their ditrophic interaction. It also enhanced the growth parameters of jute mallow seedlings with respect to the age of the seedlings and time of inoculations.Â