Antagonistic activity of some fungi and Actinomycetes against pathogens of damping-off of sugar beet seed lings

The antagonistic activity of some Biological Control Agents (BCA) isolates of Trichoderma sp., Penicillium sp., Gliocladium sp., and Actinomycetes - Streptomyces sp. against pathogens of sugar beet damping-off: Aphanomyces cochlioides, Pythium debaryanum and Phoma betae was tested in vivo and in vitro. Fourty-nine isolates of fungi and seventy four of Actinomycetes were isolated from compost and soil in which those pathogens did not occur. The microorganisms effective against at least two pathogens in vitro tests were incorporated into the soil or added to the seed as a treatment during pelleting process. The microorganisms used in vivo tests limited the number of infected seedlings. Some of them protected emerging plants on the same level as fungicides commercially used for seed treatment.