Brown spot disease is one of the most destructive foliar diseases of rice. Biological control of this disease is considered more environmentally safe, but the biological control agents have limited availability. The fungus Trichoderma can be used as a biocontrol agent for various plant diseases, including brown spots. Indigenous Trichoderma species from West Timor were evaluated in this study to reveal their effectiveness in reducing brown spot disease of upland rice. The study was conducted under a screen house condition using a factorial treatment design laid out in a completely randomized design. The two factors were the brown spot disease control method (T. viride, T. harzianum, T. hamatum, fungicide Trivia 73 WP, and a control treatment) and upland rice genotype (Inpago 7 and Breun Senaren 2).

The results showed that Trichoderma spp. and the fungicide Trivia 73 WP caused significantly lower AUDPC and apparent infection rate than the control treatment. The total phenol content and agronomic characters (number of reproductive tillers per plant, number of filled grains per panicle, grain yield per plant) were higher in the Trichoderma and fungicide treatments than the control treatment. Meanwhile, tannin and saponin levels were non-significantly different among treatments. Trichoderma and the fungicide Trivia treatments effectively suppressed brown spot disease of upland rice, and the efficacy was dependent on the rice variety, with a mean efficacy range over the two varieties of 27.05–36.42%. The Trichoderma and the fungicide Trivia treatments increased the grain yield per plant differentially in the 2 rice varieties, with a mean grain yield increase over the 2 varieties of 13.0% (T. viride), 23.5% (T. harzianum), 35.0% (T. hamatum), and 19.9% (Trivia 73 WP).

Efficacy of local Trichoderma of West Timor and the fungicide Trivia treatments were varietal dependent with T. hamatum being the most effective in reducing the brown spot disease and producing the highest grain yield increase over the 2 rice varieties. The local Trichoderma species of West Timor have a future potential as biocontrol agents of upland rice brown spot disease, but it is necessary to further evaluate their effectiveness against the disease in replicated field trials.