Professor Alaa Hassan Radhi, a lecturer in the Department of Plant Protection at the College of Agriculture at the University of Basra, participated as chair of the doctoral dissertation committee for postgraduate student Sabreen Mohsen Hassan from the Department of Plant Protection at the University of Kufa. The dissertation was entitled "A Study of the Toxicity of the Fungicide Topsin in its Regular and Nanoforms and Its Interaction with the Bacteria Pseudomonas Fluorescens Used in Controlling the Fungus Clerotinia S. sclerotorium, the Causative of White Rot on Eggplant, and Estimating the Residues of the Pesticide." The study aimed to test the most widely used fungicide in controlling white rot on eggplant, compare the efficacy of the fungicide in its regular and nanoforms in controlling the cause of white rot, measure the residues of the fungicide in its nano and regular forms, determine the duration of its residues in the fruits and soil after spraying, determine the pre-harvest period, and study the toxicity of the fungicide used and the biodegradation of the bacteria used. To determine pesticide residues and study the physiological effects of the fungicide on mice.
The study recommended taking into account the pre-harvest interval (PHI) when using the fungicide M Topsin. Further studies should also be conducted on the biopharmaceutical Pseudomonas fluorescens to reduce fungicide residues. Furthermore, S. sclerotiorum, the fungus that causes white rot, should be considered an important disease affecting eggplant plants in the Najaf and Muthanna governorates.
