Relationship between Plant Protection Rate and Coefficient of Variation of Microbial Products for Ginseng Cultivation

The plant protection rate of the marketed microbial products for ginseng cultivation was investigated against Rhizoctoina solani and Pythium sp. in a seedling pot experiment. A significant difference was found among the mean plant protection rates (Pm) of the microbial products, including Tolclofos-methyl (Rhizolex). The best microbial product, C-ISR2, showed a 33% and 33.6% net Pm (total Pm-control Pm) in the two tests against Rhizoctonia solani. In one test with a 58.6% control plot Pm, the total pm was 91.6%, indicating that plant protection can be done only with a microbial product in a well-conditioned field. The net Pm of C-ISR2 against Pythium sp. was 26.4%. The net Pm of a microbial product against a pathogen seems to be fixed. A significant negative linear correlation was found between the Pm and the coefficient of variation (CV) of the protection rate in all the three experiments. This indicates that the protection processes of control, microbial products, and chemical pesticides are in the same system. Pm was only dependent on CV, probably due to each seedling’s microenvironment. In the linear correlation equation between the Pm and the CV of the microbial products and the control plot, the intercept of the vertical axis will be the theoretical Pm when CV is zero.