Seven years of white mold biocontrol product’s performance efficacy on Sclerotinia sclerotiorum carpogenic germination in Brazil: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Biocontrol is a plausible strategy to be considered on the management of white mold but the efficacy is not always the same. Therefore, the identification of the sources of such variable performance fosters a fine-tune product recommendation to achieve the highest performance. Based on seven soybean crop seasons, 59 uniform field trials were conducted throughout Brazil to assess the performance of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum sclerotia parasitism under different temperature and rainfall regimes. Hence, we carried out a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of three treatment classes (Trichoderma-, Bacillus-, and a Mixed combination of both organisms) on the reduction of S. sclerotiorum sclerotia carpogenic germination (mean difference; MD) according to a multilevel network model (59 trials, k = 340). Throughout trials included in the meta-analysis, biocontrol reduced carpogenic germination ca. 70 % of times, with fitted