International Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Biotechnology
  • Year: 2020
  • Volume: 13
  • Issue: 3

Study of root and stem rot pathogen (Rhizoctonia solani) in different culture media, host range and effect of weather parameters on disease incidence

  • Author:
  • Tribikram Sahoo1, Abhisek Tripathy1,, Shriram Ratan Pradhan2, Anirudha Tarai3
  • Total Page Count: 5
  • Page Number: 355 to 359

1Department of Plant Pathology, O.U.A.T., Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

2Department of Vegetable Science, O.U.A.T., Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

3Department of Agronomy, O.U.A.T., Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

*Corresponding author: abhi.plantpathology@gmail.com (ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3368-4456)

Online published on 22 October, 2020.

Abstract

Root and stem rot of cowpea caused by Rhizoctonia solani is one of the most important problems for farmers among the coastal regions of Odisha. Keeping this in view, the behavioural study of the pathogen was done by studying its growth pattern in different culture media and host medium. Among five different media, Potato dextrose agar (90.00 mm) was found to support the maximum radial growth followed by Sabouraud’s dextrose agar medium (87.90 mm), Potato dextrose rose Bengal agar (82.40 mm), Oat meal agar (76.60 mm) and Malt extract agar (70.98 mm). In study of meteorological parameters in relation to disease development the maximum incidence was recorded in October at a maximum temperature of 32.7°C, minimum temperature 22.9 °C accompanied by night RH 92% and day RH 64%. However, weather parameters under study did not yield any significant effect on disease development. However, the soil factors like sandy loam textured soil and acidic to neutral PH contributed towards this soil borne disease. Among host range studies, Rhizoctonia solani isolated from cowpea could infect rice (Oryza sativa), maize (Zea mays), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), chilli (Capsicum annum), brinjal (Solanum melongena), field pea (Pisum sativum), cucumber (Cucumissataivus), bengalgram (Cicer arietinum), arhar (Cajanus cajan), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), and groundnut (Arachis hypogea) in addition to its own host.

• The most effective supporting medium for growth of the fungus was the Sabouraud’s dextrose agar with an incubation period of seven days.

• The least infection was found during august when the temperature and RH were in the range 24-34°C and 73-94 per cent respectively.

• Sandy loam textured soil and acidic to neutral PH contributed root and stem rot disease the most.

• The isolates of rice, maize, tomato, brinjal, chilly, fieldpea, cucumber, Bengal gram, arhar, cotton and groundnut were identical in their pathogenicity as they caused similar infection.

Keywords

Host range studies, Potato dextrose agar, Rhizoctonia solani, Root and stem rot