The plant pathogens, Fusarium and Pythium, can cause significant losses to corn producers when the weather conditions are conducive to the plant pathogens and the seed is not treated with a protective fungicide seed treatment. Chemical seed treatments are commercially available to control the effects of these pathogens on the seedlings, however, no viable control is commercially available to control the root rots and stalk rots that these pathogens cause in later growth stages of the plant. A combination fungal/bacterial antagonist has been identified that may be effective to control these pathogens in the early plant growth stages with continued protection throughout the growing season. Presently, this combination has a relatively short shelf life. This proposal is directed towards the development of methods to increase the shelf life of the fungal/bacterial antagonist and test the fungal/bacterial antagonist for efficacy under greenhouse conditions. Phase II will continue the efficacy testing of the successful methods under various field conditions and with several corn hybrids. This proposal is designed to commercialize a biological corn seed fungicide that is more effective and more environmentally friendly that the presently used chemical corn seed fungicides. Because the proposed product would provide a season long control that the chemical fungicides do not, it is anticipated that hybrid corn seed companies would readily accept the product as a preferable alternative as long as the questions of shelf life and efficacy can be answered. This award is supported by the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
