Resumen
- Black Sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis Morelet) causes important losses to banana production. Use of fungicides has been the most efficient control to this foliar disease. The development of innovative strategies to diminish conventional chemical control dependency is a permanent challenge for a sustainable and environmentally respectful agriculture. The objective of this research was to evaluate mutualist endophytic fungi to control black Sigatoka in the field. The experiment was established on a farm in Obispo, County in Barinas. A randomized complete block design was arranged with four treatment and 30 plants as experimental unit. Banana (cv. Grand Naine) vitro plants and corms inoculated separately with Trichoderma atroviride strains (E1 and E2) were utilized. Black Sigatoka severity and incidence were evaluated using Fouré (1985) and Gauhl (1989) scales and following Marin and Romero (1998) methodology. During the vegetative period, the following variables were recorded: evolution state (ES), foliar emission rhythm (RER), total leaves (TL), youngest diseased leaf (YDL) and infection index (IND). At flowering, only one reading was done for TLF, YDLF and INDF, along with the following phenological variables: period from planting to flowering (PPF), plant height at flowering (PHF) and pseudostem circumference to flowering (PCF). Although there were no significant differences within treatment observed, E1 shows the lowest values on IND, INDF y HMJE and the best values on TH and REF with over 16% in both variables above the witness.