Effect of different soil amendments and bio agents on development of dry root rot (DRR) diseases of chickpea caused by Rhizoctonia bataticola (M.phaseolina)

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the important pulse crops of India. Occurrence of dry root rot (DRR) caused by Rhizoctonia bataticola (Taub.) Butler is emerging as a serious biotic constraint in recent years for successful and profitable cultivation of chickpea. The efficacy of various soil amendments and bio agents viz wheat straw @ 20g/kg of soil, bajra straw @ 20g/kg, mung bean straw @ 20g/kg, mustard cake @ 5g/kg, ground nut cake @ 5g/kg and farm yard manure @ 20g/kg of soil as mixture with soil and Trichoderma viride@ 4gm/kg seed, T. harzianum@4gm.kg seed, T. virens0.5 gm/ke seed & Bacillus subtilis@ 6gm/kg as seed treatment respectively were evaluated against Rhizoctonia bataticola causing root rot in Chickpea. Study of DRRin chickpea done under both pot and field conditionduring years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. Soil amendment with mustard cake amendment was found most effective in reducing the disease incidence (33.33 & 38.33%) during both years (2018-2019 & 2019-2020) of study followed by wheat straw, bajra straw and FYM. Among the bio agents Trichoderma viride (24.44 & 26.66%) was found most effective in minimizing DRR incidence and mean pathogen propagules g-1 soil (1.16 x 103) during both years of study.