Effect of time of application of fungal and bacterial antagonists on bacterial leaf blight of rice

The present study was conducted to test the efficacy of potential isolates of bioagents against bacterial leaf blight of rice applied as three time sequences. Application of bioagents formulation,7 days before pathogen inoculation were found significantly effective in reducing disease severity over check and chemical treatment. Reduction in disease severity (63.19, 51.31 and 38.23%) was noticed with T. harzianum at all three time of application (7 days before, simultaneously and7 days after pathogen inoculation, respectively). Application of bioagents 7 days before and simultaneously with pathogen inoculation was found more effective than chemical treatment in increasing grain yield. PBA-3 exhibited maximum increase (64.85%) in grain yield when applied 7 days before pathogen inoculation. Maximum increase (29.26%) in 1000 grain weight was showed by PBA-2, when applied 7 days before pathogen inoculation.