Twelve bioformulations were prepared using six isolates
of the above-mentioned fungal antagonists and the
organic and inorganic carriers – rice bran and talc. The
powdery compounds of the carriers were selected based
on their use in previous studies (Kakvan et al. 2013; Samavat
et al. 2014). They were steam-sterilised at 121°C for
30 min, and dried aseptically in glass trays before use.The fungal isolates were first grown on PDA culture
medium for purification and were then incubated for
about three weeks for sporulation. The spores in the Petri
plates were washed out by adding 10 ml of distilled water
to each plate. A spore suspension of each fungal isolate
was prepared at 107 spore · ml–1 using a hemocytometer.
For preparation of the bioformulations, 10 ml of
each fungal spore suspension was added to a plastic
bag containing 50 g of each carrier. The bags were then
placed in an incubator at 30°C for three weeks until the
fungi covered the surface of the carriers. The contents
of the bags were then emptied and dried out in the
laboratory and were used for seed treatment. For seed
treatment, 5 g of each bioformulation was mixed with
15 ml of distilled water, in a glass tray. This combination
was used for the treatment of 100 g of garlic seed
bulbs. The coating and treating of seeds was performed
by rolling the garlic bulbs in the bioformulations for
10 min. The bulbs were then allowed to dry for 60 min.
As a result of the above experiments, 12 bioformulations
were developed and prepared using antagonistic
fungal isolates and organic and inorganic carriers. A list
of developed bioformulations and their specifications
are presented in table 2.