Developing microbial-based products and strategies for improving rice production in Tanzania

坦桑尼亚政府最近制定了一系列政策，支持国内和出口市场的农业发展，以解决当地、地区和全球对大米和高附加值水果的供需缺口。然而，坦桑尼亚这些作物的可持续生产面临一些挑战，包括有效管理植物病害。例如，稻瘟病通常会造成15%的产量损失。我们建议开发创新的生物防治方法来管理稻瘟病，稻瘟病是水稻上危害最严重的疾病，将种衣剂与特定的生防剂(BCA)结合起来，并将BCA浸根和叶面应用。为了优化生防策略，我们将进行实验，研究包衣种子或浸根对根部微生物种群和诱导抗性的影响，并研究BCA在叶表面的存活和扩散。将在坦桑尼亚开展实地研究网络；将举办培训班，宣传虫害综合管理的原则。该项目成果的通过将导致小农适销对路产量的显著增加，而不需要过多地投入杀菌剂。

Tanzania government has recently made a series of policies to support the agriculture development for both demotic and export markets in order to address the local, regional and global demand-supply gap for rice and high-value fruit. However, sustainable production of these crops in Tanzania faces a number of challenges, including the effective management of plant diseases. For instance, rice blast can usually result in 15% of yield losses. We propose to develop innovative biocontrol methods to manage rice blast, the most damaging disease in rice, combining seed-coating with specific biocontrol agents (BCA) with dipping roots in and foliar applications of BCAs. To optimise biocontrol strategies, we will conduct experiments to study the effects of coating seeds or dipping roots in BCAs on root microbial population and induced resistance and to study survival and dispersal of BCAs on the leaf surfaces. A network of field studies will be carried out in Tanzania; training courses will be run to promote the principles of integrated pest management. Adoption of the project results will lead to significant increases in marketable yield for smallholder farmers without excessive input of fungicides.