Use of agro-waste for production of value added products is a good alternative for developing low-cost carriers for formulation of Trichoderma-based bio-products. It provides avenues for safe utilization of wastes, while reducing cost and environment pollution load of waste disposal. The present study was undertaken to find suitable agro-waste for economical and higher mass production of Trichoderma lixii TvR1 under solid-state fermentation, optimizing culture conditions using mathematical model and assessing effect of formulated bio-product on growth of Spinach (Spinacia oleracea). Among various agro-wastes screened, sugarcane bagasse was observed to support maximum growth (20.08 × 107 spores/g) of T. lixii TvR1 which was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than the others. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to optimize culture conditions using optimal point prediction analysis which predicted that maximum spore production of T. lixii TvR1 (19.1245 × 107 spores/g) will be obtained at 30 °C and 68.87% of moisture content after 31 days of incubation. Amendment of formulated bio-product of T. lixii TvR1 in soil at concentration 15% w/w promoted biomass, photosynthetic pigments, and protein content of spinach (significant at p ≤ 0.05). After 6 weeks of sowing the shoot length, root length, and photosynthetic pigments of plants irrigated daily and on alternate days were reported to be increased by 66.97, 185.03, and 82.80%; and 56.56, 71.36, and 74.64%, respectively; over the no amendment.
Keywords: Agro-waste; Optimal point prediction analysis; Photosynthetic pigments; Sub-optimal irrigation; Trichoderma.