Evaluation of bio-control agents for management of fruit rot and its effect on seed quality in chilli Gowda C. B., Kumar Atul*, Lal S. K., Akhtar Jameel1, Mishra G. P.2, Tiwari S. K.3, Kumar Ravindra4, Javeria Shaily Division of Seed Science and Technology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, NCT Delhi, India 1Division of Plant Quarantine, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi 2Division of Genetics, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 3ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi 4ICAR- Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal *Corresponding author: atulpathiari@gmail.com
Online Published on 23 December, 2022. Abstract The fruit rot/anthracnose disease by Colletotrichum capsici (Sydow.) is a wide spread problem, limiting the profitable cultivation and seed production throughout the major chilli growing regions of India. The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of fruit rot on seed quality parameters as well as on eco-friendly management options in-vitro and in-vivo during 2018-2020. Seeds from the bio-agents treated plots exhibited good germination percentage, seedling vigour indices and electrical conductivity compared to control. The seeds from control (diseased) plots exhibited poor germination, which is less than IMSC standards (<60%). This clearly elucidates that there is a huge loss in all the seed quality parameters due to fruit rot in chilli. Among the three bio-agents evaluated for their efficacy in inhibiting the mycelial growth of C. capsici in dual culture technique, Trichoderma viride and T. harzianum were having better antagonistic effect due to their aggressiveness and fast growth on the fruit rot pathogen as compared to Talaromyces sp. Therefore, bio-agent can be a better ecofriendly option for the management of fruit rot disease with better quality of seeds in chilli. Top Keywords Capsicum annuum L., Colletotrichum capsici (Sydow.), Seed quality, Trichoderma viride, T. harzianum, Talaromyces. Top |