Biological Control of Wilt and Root Rot of Chickpea under Field Conditions Prasad R.D., Rangeshwaran R., Anuroop C.P., Rashmi H.J. Project Directorate of Biological Control, P.B. No. 2491, H.A Farm (PO), Bellary Road, Bangalore 560 024, India. * E-mail: <ravulapalliprasad@yahoo.com>
Abstract Two antagonistic fungi viz., Trichoderma harzianum (PDBCTH 10) and T. viride (PDBCTV) were evaluated against natural incidence of wilt and wet root rot of chickpea in a field plot. Soil application of these bioagents, one week before sowing found to be more effective than seed treatment in reducing wilt and wet root rot of chickpea. The two bioagents had positive effect on plant growth. T. harzianum soil treated plots recorded only 4.9 and 1.2% root rot at 30 and 60 days respectively and was found to be superior to all other treatments. In pathogen check, the root rot incidence was 16.4 and 17.0% at 30 and 60 days respectively. Wilt incidence recorded was also high (11.8 and 16%) in control plots, but in T. harzianum soil treated plots only 4 and 5.1% wilt incidence was noticed at 60 and 90 days respectively. The seed yield recorded was significantly high in all treatments when compared to pathogen check and the highest yield of 965.4 kg/ha was obtained with soil treatment of T. harzianum. Top Key words Biological control, Chickpea, Rhizoctonia solani, Trichoderma harzianum, T. viride, Wilt. Top |