Isolation and identification of antagonistic fungi on coffee leaf rust in the Dieng highlands of Banjarnegara, Indonesia.

Background: Coffee is an important plantation crop in Indonesia. The coffee cultivation process was disrupted due to the fungus Hemileia vastatrix which causes rust disease. Biological control has the potential to suppress disease development. The diversity of antagonistic fungi such as Trichoderma in nature is very abundant, so it is necessary to explore and find Trichoderma which has the potential as a biological agent in controlling coffee leaf rust. The research aimed to obtain antagonist fungi that have the potential as biological agents in controlling coffee leaf rust naturally in the coffee plant ecosystem. Result: Morphology of a local antagonist fungus isolate, coded TBK1, was identified as Trichoderma atroviride which had the potential to naturally control coffee leaf rust by H. vastatrix through a mycoparasitic mechanism. Conclusion: In the Dieng Plateau, Banjarnegara Indonesia, an antagonistic fungus as a biological agent, T. atroviride, was found to control H. vastatrix coffee leaf rust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]