Celestine Okinda is an agricultural consultant keen on raising quality crops hence the interest crop protection. Having completed High School education from Moi Tea Girls High School, her college journey began at Egerton University and pursued BSc in Horticulture 2010. It was while pursuing an undergraduate BSc Horticulture that she developed an interest in crop protection. Since then has worked with horticultural crop growers in small and medium scales consulting in pest and disease management where the interest to further understand crop protection arose. This coupled with the market need for individuals who were skilled in crop protection, motivated her to pursue a M.Sc. in Crop Protection at the University of Nairobi. Through this learning experience, she gained valuable skills in crop protection methods. Currently, she works with a key Agrochemical distributer Amiran Kenya Ltd providing different solutions to farmers in various scales on crop protection. For her thesis, she conducted a study on abundance of Trichoderma species in different habitats and their efficacy in the management of bacterial wilt of tomato. This work was done under the guidance of Prof. James Muthomi and Prof. John Kimenju of the University of Nairobi. She is passionate about issues revolving around solving crop protection of horticultural crops in a safe and sustainable manner. Her career aspiration is to continually apply the knowledge and expertise gained in theory, practically in solving crop protection matters.
Abstract
Tomato a major vegetable in Kenya’s production is affected by bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. Losses up to 100% reported with bacterial wilt management strategies not providing sustainable solutions. The study contributes to tomato production using Trichoderma spp as alternative for managing bacterial wilt, determining antagonistic activity of Trichoderma species from different habitats against Ralstonia solanacearum in vitro and their efficacy in managing bacterial wilt of tomato at field level. In vitro work indicated habitats with high organic matter and few disturbances had high Trichoderma spp population. Identified T harzianum and T asperellum had high antagonistic activity on Ralstonia solanacearum in vitro. Isolated Trichoderma spp were mass multiplied on sterilized sorghum grains. Anna F1 was transplanted in potted pathogen infested soil, first application done and two more biweekly. Treatments included; isolated T asperellum and T harzianum, combined isolated T asperellum and T harzianum, plots with no applications, commercial T harzianum and T asperellum, combined commercial T harzianum and T asperellum. In greenhouse, single and combined treatments of T asperellum and T harzianum at P ≤ 0.05 had significant reduction of bacterial wilt incidence and severity compared to plots with no applications. Bacterial ooze and stem browning in Trichoderma spp treatments reduced compared to those with no applications. Growth and yield of the tomato plants were significantly at P ≤ 0.05 higher in Trichoderma spp treatments. Results indicated that T harzianum and T asperellum were efficient in managing bacterial wilt in tomatoes alternative management solution to bacterial wilt in tomatoes.
Important Links
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Celestine-Okinda
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4054-497X
Research Supervisors
Prof James Muthomi
Prof John Kimenju
