Bio intensive management of stem rot of groundnut incited by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc.

Abstract

Sclerotium rolfsii is a destructive soil borne fungal pathogen with wide host range that includes groundnut, an important oil seed crop in India. Biological control offers an interesting alternative to fungicides for sustainable management of soil borne diseases. Different bioagents were tested their efficacy against S. rolfsii through dual culture. Maximum mycelial inhibition was observed in Trichoderma harzianum (TUREF59) and least inhibition was noticed in Bacillus thuringiensis (BTG4). The biorationals were tested at 10 and 20 per cent concentration against S. rolfsii through poisoned food technique. At 20 per cent concentration highest mycelial growth inhibition was noticed when compared to 10 per cent concentration. Among biorationals Panchagavya was most effective in inhibiting the pathogen at 20% concentration compared to other treatments. All the organic amendments were effective in managing S. rolfsii neem seed cake was most effective followed by FYM enriched with Trichoderma spp. among the test organic amendments under pot condition. Whereas in vivo management of S. rolfsii resulted that, minimum incidence of stem rot was recorded by T4 (Enriched FYM + neem cake + seed treatment with Trichoderma harzianum at 5g/kg seeds + soil drenching with panchagavya 20%) with disease incidence of 11.11 per cent which is significantly superior over other treatment combinations.