To compare the effectiveness of the bioagents against the wilt and
root-knot diseases, separate treatments with efficacious fungicide
(carbendazim) and nematicides (fenamiphos) were maintained.
Carbendazim (50%w.p) @1.25 kg/h was applied in broadcast manner a
applied to soil @ 6kg/h and for seed treatment the doze was 2g/kg seed.
Half dose of carbendazim was mixed with the half dose of fenamiphos to
get the required dose of the combination.
For soil application dose of the comination was maintained as 40
g/microplot (50 kg/ha). To achieve this 20 g of %. cultured on
baggasse-soil-molasses mixture was mixed with the 20 g leaf litter
colonized by
and /or 20ml nutrient broth culture of
P. flusorescens. The mixture was applied in rows where seeds were to be
sown in a microplot. Fo seed application 2.5 g of sorghum seeds
colonized with the bioagent was mixed with the 2.5 g of other bioagent or
2.5ml nutrient broth to get the total dose of 5 g/kg seed.
Æ
Ýeeds of chickpea, Æ . var. BG-256 were sown in
rows (57 seeds/row, 4 rows/microplot) where antagonist(s) had already
been applied. One week after sowing irrigation was done. Weeds were
removed manually three times (monthly) and any chemical fertilizer or
pesticide was not applied in the fiel. Plants were grown for four months.
During this period they were regularly observed for any symptom.
Ý
Ýoil population of the wilt fungi and bio-agents was estimated
monthly using dilution plate method. Ýoil was collected from the
rhizosphere of five plants in each microplot and was mixed to make a
composite sample. The soil was sieved through a coarse sieve. One gram
of the soil was taken in a conical flask to which 10ml sterile water was
added. The soil-water mixture was stirred over a magnetic stirrer for 5
minutes. One mol of this suspension was transferred into a 9 ml sterile
water in a test tube blank. One ml samples were then transferred
immediately through successive 9ml sterile water blanks until the desired
final dilution of 1:10000(for fungi) and 1:100000(for bacteria) was
achieved.
For fungi, 1 ml of the desired dilution was aseptically transferred
(under Laminar flow) to the surface of the hardened potato dextrose agar
medium in Petri dishes and 3 such plates were maintained for each
dilution. The transferred suspension was spread over the agar surface
with a glass spreader. The agar plates were prepared four days previously
to ensure that the medium in the plate was free from contamination.
The plates were then incubated at 25 -27oC for 7-10 days to get the
colonies. To determine the population of bacteria, 0.3 ml of the final
dilution was spread over hardened surface of nutrient broth in a Petri
plate and incubated at 37 oC (
) or 30oC (
) for 3
days. After incubation, the plates were examined under a colony counter
to determine soil population of the desired microorganism.
ñ
Population of M. incognita was determined by Cob¶s decanting the
sieving method. A composite soil sample was made by collecting the soil
from the rhizosphere of five plants in each microplot. The sool was sifted
through a coarse sieve. The soil (1 kg) was mixed in 5 liters of water ina
plastic bucket. The soil-water mixture was stirred and then allowed to
stand for 30 seconds. The liquid was then decanted over a combination of
3 sieves (60, 200, and 500 mesh). The catch from the final sieve was
carefully washed and transferred to a beaker.
A small coarse sieve with two layers of wet paper towels was kept
in a Baermann funnel filled with water. The nematode suspension from
the beaker was poured onto the sieve and allowed to stand overnight. The
nematodes move actively and migrate throught he paper towel into the
water and aggregate in the bottom of the rubber tubing of Baermann
funnel. The nematode suspension recovered from the Baermann funnel
was taken into a counting dish for examination under microscope.
Visual observations were made on five and two and a half months
old plants of pigeonpea and chickpea, respectively to determine wil t
incidence and severity according to the following formulae
Number of plants showing wilt symptoms in a microplot
Wilt incidence = ×100
Total number of plants in a microplot
. Greatest increase i.e., 42.1 and 39.4% in the growth variables
occurred due to application of
followed by
T.
harzianum and %
compared to concomitantly inoculated control. A
treatment with the mixture of carbendazim and fenamiphos resulted to 26
and 24% increase I the plant length and dry weight of chickpea.
Ý
Application of bioagents through seed treatment was relatively less
effective compared to soil application. Plant length of chickpea was
significantly increased due to application of
compared soil
application. Plant length of chickpea was significantly increased due to
application P. fluorescens compared to inoculated control. Greatest
increase in the plant length of Fusarium inoculated plants was recorded
due to %
(13.6%) followed by %
(12.1%) and P.
(11.2%) against 21.6% due to carbendazim. dry