Antagonistic Activity of Trichoderma Isolates Against Soil Borne Fungal Pathogens Of Chickpea

Total 16 strains of Trichoderma were screenedamong the 25 strains isolated from different crop rhizospheric soil samples collected from different districts of M.P. The dual culture studies of these isolates against three fungal soil borne pathogens of chickpea viz., S.rolfsii, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.ciceri and R.bataticola revealed that all the strains exhibited control over the three pathogens to a different extent. Two strains Ts_A2 and Ts₁₁ were effective against all the three pathogens. Studies on the volatile compounds emanating from the growing cultures of Trichoderma strains revealed that they had inhibitory effect on the growth of three pathogens. The strain Ts₃ was effective against all the three pathogens. The strain Ts₃ was found to be effective in controlling the pathogen, Sclerotium rolfsii in both methods, which indicates that the antagonist was able to release both volatile and non dffusible compounds for inhibiting growth of the pathogen. The experiment conducted on the pot experiment showed similar result with the dual culture experiment. The strains Ts₃, Ts₅ and Ts₄ showed minimum percent of collar rot incidence, the strains Ts_A2, Ts₁₁ and Ts₃ showed minimum percent of dry root rot incidence and Ts₄, Ts₅ and Ts_A3 showed minimum incidence of wilt in chick pea at the observed stages of the crop.