Vol. 7, Issue 12 (2018)

Author(s):
P Sreenivasa Murthy, J Patricia Raj Kumari, N Basavaraju, D Janardhan and M Nagalakshmi Devamma

Abstract:
Groundnut stem rot caused by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc causing stem rot on more than 500 plant species of agricultural and horticultural crops throughout the world. Most of the first symptom associated with S. rolfsii are usually yellowing and wilting of leaves following stem rot infections. Biological management of the disease through antagonists is an eco-friendly approach apart from better alternative to the use of chemicals. In the present study, the nine antagonistic microorganisms were evaluated by dual culture technique for their antagonistic effect against S. rolfsii under in-vitro conditions. Maximum inhibition of mycelial growth (71.67%) was noticed in Trichoderma harzianum (Gunthakal field isolate) which was followed by T. Viride (Kadiri field) (63.33%). Least inhibition was observed in T. harzianum RDGFI isolate (31.67%). The results indicated that the application of these micro-organisms successfully decreases the stem rot incidence and also increases the growth of the groundnut plants.