Management of Root Rot (Rhizoctonia solani) of Mothbean through Bio-Agents

Root rot caused by Rhizoctonia solani is an important disease of mothbean, under severe infestation it causes 58–68% losses in grain yield. Three-year field experiments were conducted in hot arid conditions at Bikaner, Rajasthan during kharif seasons with the objective to find out suitable eco-friendly management strategies for root rot. The experiment was conducted on cv. RMO-225 with six different combination of Trichoderma harzianum + Pseudomonas fluorescens bio- agents viz, seed treatment, soil treatment and their combinations against the root rot disease and compared with an untreated control. Results of experiment showed that all the treatments brought significant decline in disease incidence and consequently enhancement of grain yield compared to control. The treatment having combination of Trichoderma harzianum + Pseudomonas fluorescens seed treatment (4+4 g/kg seed) + soil application of T. harzianum + P. fluorescens (1.25 +1.25 kg in 50 kg FYM for each/ha) had minimum (21.78%) root rot incidence, highest grain yield (10.56 q/ha) and net return (Rs. 14,338/ha). The T. harzianum seed treatment 8 g/kg seed + soil application of T. harzianum 2.5kg in 100 kg FYM/ha was the next best treatment with 25.56 per cent disease incidence and 9.42 q/ha of grain yield. These treatments can provide an effective, economical and eco-friendly management of root rot of mothbean for cultivators.