Management of Wilt Disease Complex Caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis and Meloidogyne incognita with Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria on Lentil

The present study evaluated the interaction of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lentis and Meloidogyne incognita, and the effectiveness of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on the resulting wilt disease complex on lentil cv. Malka Masoor under pot and field conditions. Concomitant inoculation with the wilt fungus and root knot nematode significantly increased the severity of the wilt compared to the fungus alone, in particular. Seed treatment with Pseudomonas fluorescens resulted in 45-55% reduction in the wilt severity and 40-45 % in the root knot, whereas the treatments with Bacillus subtilis caused 21-25 and 27-33% declines, respectively, under pot and field conditions over inoculated control. Application of P. fluorescens significantly increased the shoot length (27.2%), root length (21.5%), number of pods (34%), grain yield (38%), and nodulation (15%) of dual inoculated plants (disease complex) under field condition. The PGPR treatments suppressed the soil populations of the wilt fungus and root knot nematode by 70% and 90%, respectively. The seed treatment with P. fluorescens offers a commercially viable management of wilt and root knot problems under mono and multi-pathogenic situations in lentil.