1Department of Plant Nematology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, Tamil Nadu, India.
2Department of Plant Pathology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, Tamil Nadu, India.
* Corresponding author address, Agricultural Research Station, Kadiri-515 591, Anantapur Dt., A.P. India. E-mail: kalainem@rediffmail.com
An experiment was carried out under glasshouse conditions to determine the effect of organic crab shell chitin @ 1% (w/w) and chitinolytic biocontrol agents (Pseudomonas fluorescens @ 2.5kg/ha, Trichoderma viride @ 2.5kg/ha) on growth of groundnut cv. Co3 and on population of bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes and root knot nematode, Meloidogyne arenaria. Soil application of chitin and chitinolytic biocontrol agents promoted the plant growth to the tune of 39.7% and also increased the yield of groundnut up to 27.8% compared to control. Number of galls per plant were low in treatment with soil amended with chitin and chitinolyticbiocontrol agents. The gall numbers per plant was negatively correlated with accumulation of total phenols and activities of peroxidase and chitinase in leaf. Chitin application not only reduced the soil nematode population but also enhanced the soil microbial activity up to 55%. The possible mode of action of chitin and chitinolytic biocontrol agents on nematodes especially on nematode egg and Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR) in groundnut due to biocontrol agents were discussed.
Chitin-(N-acetylglucoseamine), Pseudomonas fluorescens, Trichoderma viride, Meloidogyne arenaria, groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), total phenols, peroxidase (PO), chitinase, Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR)
