Integrated Management of Foot Rot of Lentil Using Biocontrol Agents under Field Condition

Abstract

The efficacy of cowdung, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA)-biofertilizer, and Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU)-biofungicide, alone or in combination, was evaluated for controlling foot rot disease of lentil. The results exhibited that BINA-biofertilizer and BAUbiofungicide (peat soil-based Rhizobium leguminosarum and black gram bran-based Trichoderma harzianum) are compatible and have combined effects in controlling the pathogenic fungi Fusarium oxysporum and Sclerotium rolfsii, which cause the root rot of lentil. Cowdung mixing with soil (at 5 t/ha) during final land preparation and seed coating with BINA-biofertilizer and BAU-biofungicide (at 2.5% of seed weight) before sowing recorded 81.50% field emergence of lentil, which showed up to 19.85% higher field emergence over the control. Post-emergence deaths of plants due to foot rot disease were significantly reduced after combined seed treatment with BINA-biofertilizer and BAU-biofungicide. Among the treatments used, only BAU-biofungicide as the seed treating agent resulted in higher plant stand (84.82%). Use of BINA-biofertilizer and BAU-biofungicide as seed treating biocontrol agents and application of cowdung in the soil as an organic source of nutrient resulted in higher shoot and root lengths, and dry shoot and root weights of lentil. BINA-biofertilizer significantly increased the number of nodules per plant and nodules weight of lentil. Seeds treating with BAUbiofungicide and BINA-biofertilizer and soil amendment with cowdung increased the biomass production of lentil up to 75.56% over the control.