Improvement of Seed Quality and Field Emergence of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum (L.)) Seeds using Bioagents and Botanicals

The seeds of chickpea (Cv. Digvijay) was treated with bioagents and botanicals i.e. talc powder formulations of Pseudomonas fluorescens (0.6%), Trichoderma viride (0.6%), Pseudomonas fluorescens + Trichoderma viride (0.6%) each, Garlic extract (1%), Ginger extract (1%) and Thiram + Carbendazim (0.2% each) as a recommended fungicidal check. The results indicated that, among the bioagents and botanicals the treatment of T. viride to the seeds of chickpea was effective in reducing seed mycoflora i.e Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria alternata, Curvularia lunata, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger by 45.0, 37.8, 56.5, 63.0 and 30.4 per cent, respectively over untreated control. The seed germination, seedling vigour index and field emergence of chickpea was increased by 4.66, 20.74 and 6.94 per cent, respectively with this treatment over untreated control. The mean seed germination, seedling vigour index and field emergence in untreated control was 87.50 per cent, 2058.07 and 73.17 per cent, respectively.