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This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of four entomopathogenic fungi against the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) as an alternative to chemical pesticides. The adult stage inside stored wheat was subjected to different concentrations of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo), Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch), Verticillium lecanii (Zimmerman), and Paecilomyces ilacinus (Thoms) in either Petri-plates at 7, 15 and 22 days or bag storage at 20, 40 and 60 days exposure times. The first experiment indicated that V. lecanii achieved maximum mortality (58.89 and 57.5%) via interaction with the highest dose of 0.748 £ 107 and maximum exposure time of 22 days respectively. The adults required the lowest concentration of V. lecanii to achieve an average LC50 (6,233,697 mg) within various exposure times. Regarding the latter experiment (liquid assay), the least survivorship (41.25) was observed by P. ilacinus followed by V. lecanii (56.25) during 60 days of exposure time. On the other hand, the powder assay revealed that the highest mortality (57.08 and 48.75) of adults inside bags was recorded respectively via the interaction terms between V. lecanii with both the highest concentration (1000 mg) and exposure times 60 days and the LC50 value of the aforementioned bioagent was (240.02) for 60 days treatment followed by B. bassiana. The study suggests that the use of biopesticides can provide significant insight in the management of pests while minimize the weight loss of stored wheat and thus, can be used as an effective alternative or integrated with chemical pesticides in pest management strategies.

A field study was conducted in Girdarasha research station, belongs to the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences (CAES), Salahaddin University, Erbil Province, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The objective was to investigate the effects of adding plant materials on the suppression of chickpea fusarium wilt disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris. Two plant residues, fresh (non-degraded) and composted (degraded) from three plant sources of leaves were added to the soil. Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), Dodonea (Dodonaea viscosa), and Neem (Azadirachta indica) were used as plant sources. Results showed the domination of composted matters over non-composted plant materials in their effects on the measured parameters (disease incidence, disease severity, plant height, and seed yield). Composted Eucalyptus leaves surpassed other composted residues in decreasing the disease severity. Nevertheless, the composted Dodonea leaves had the greatest effect in increasing both yield and plant height. The growth rate was an exception because it was not affected by the addition of these plant matters.

Rose and miniature rose powdery mildew caused by Podosphaera pannosa is the most important disease in greenhouses and outdoor plantations. The use of fungicides, as a control method, is detrimental to nature and paid public interest. This work was aimed to utilize ecofriendly methods represented with plant extracts and antagonistic fungi. Among 13 plant extracts tested in vitro, garlic (Allium sativum), ginger (Zingiber officinale), and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) were the most effective bioagents that resulted in a significant reduction of conidia germination. This result is supported by the greenhouse assessment of the selected extracts, in which the powdery mildew disease was reduced by up to 88.1%. The use of the commercial product of T. harzianum in the greenhouse was effective as plant extracts.

Strawberry plants are susceptible to a large number of pests and diseases and this can affect the quality and yield value of the fruit. Black root rot is an important disease of strawberry caused by a complex of fungi including Rhizoctonia. The most recognizable species of Rhizoctonia are R. solani and R. fragariae which are multinucleate and binucleate species, respectively. This work is aimed to isolate, identify and control the strawberry root rot caused by R. fragariae. Infected strawberry samples were collected from Erbil, Slemani, Duhok and Garmiyan Provinces. The identification of isolated fungi was achieved by using traditional methods along with molecular methods using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In the later method, specific primers were designed and used to identify Rhizoctonia species. Several disease management options, including biological by using two species of Trichoderma, and chemical methods using Pristine fungicide, were also investigated. Sampling of strawberry plants revealed that the disease is prevalent in Kurdistan region and the isolated fungi, R. solani, Rhizoctonia sp., and R. fragariae, were pathogens of the disease causing crown and root rot of strawberry. PCR amplification was confirmed the identification of the species of Rhizoctonia. The results of control methods revealed that the most effective treatments were achieved using the fungicide followed by the use of the combination of T. harzianum and T. viride.

Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (Padwick) Matuo and K. Sato) is one of the major yield limiting factors of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). For eco-friendly and sustainable management of the disease, Trichoderma harzianum as commercial product (Biocont-T), used as seed coat and jointly amended in peat moss were evaluated against the pathogen. The study was carried out in the fields of Girdarasha research station (8.8 Km south of Erbil), College of Agriculture, Salahaddin University. A moderate Ascochyta-resistant chickpea cultivar (Flip 6-15) was used. The results showed that seed treatments with T. harzianum and peat moss amendments were significantly reduced the disease incidence and severity. An increase of growth rate, plant height, biological and seed yield was also occurred. Three quantities (500, 1000, 1500 g) of peat moss showed enhancements in terms of disease incidence and severity reduction and increased the growth rate and other plant agronomic parameters as compared to untreated control. Treatment efficiency towards the yield and percentage of disease inhibition (PDI%) between treatments were measured. Using 10 Bcnt, 1000 Ptms-Tri and 1500 Ptms treatments were the most efficient treatments to enhance yield. For PDI %, 1000 Ptms-Tri, 10 Bcnt1500 Ptms and 500Ptms-Tri, were showed high disease inhibition in the field.

Infection by phytopathogenic fungal species can result in significant losses in ornamental plants. For accurate diagnosis of plant diseases, DNA-based techniques have become dependent method. This study aimed to elaborate Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for rapid detection of fungal pathogens causing diseases on ornamental plants. In this study, specific primers were used to screen suspected plant diseases. The results revealed that Alternaria, Cylindrocladium, Myrothecium, Sclerotium, Cercospora, and Bipolaris, were the most abundant fungi that infect indoor or outdoor ornamental plants. From which, Alternaria alternata, Cylindrocladium sp., and Myrothecium sp. were found to be the most frequent fungi on foliage of these plants.