In vitro assessment of Seedling growth and Management of castor wilt and Groundnut collar rot through the combination of seed coat Polymers, fungicides and Bioagents

Abstract

Castor (Ricinus communis L.) and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) are the two important oilseed crops grown in India. Of the various soil borne diseases, the wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ricini in castor and the collar rot caused by Aspergillus niger in groundnut are the major diseases. In the present study, effect of individual and combined application of seed coat polymers (synthetic polymer & chitosan), fungicides viz., carbendazim, vitavax+thiram (which were taken from poisoned food technique results) and two Trichoderma species viz., Trichoderma asperellum TaDOR 7316 and Trichoderma harzianum Th4d were used for seed coating and determined the effective combination to promote plant growth and control those soil borne diseases of castor and groundnut under in vitro conditions. In case of castor the treatment T13 (Chitosan + Carbendazim + T. harzianum Th4d) significantly increased the seedling growth and vigour in both uninoculated and pathogen inoculated condition than controls. In groundnut the treatment T12 (Chitosan + T. asperellum TaDOR 7316) exquisite in the seedling growth under uninoculated condition whereas under pathogen inoculation the treatment T13 (Chitosan + vitavax +thiram + T. asperellum TaDOR 7316) was the most effective.