Department of Organic Agriculture, CSKHPKV, Palampur – 176062
National Symposium on Strategic Issues in Plant Pathological Research held at Department of Plant Pathology, CSK HP Krishi Vishvavidayalaya, Palampur on November 24–25, 2011
Vermiwash is a liquid leachate collected by allowing excess water to saturate the vermicomposting substrate. It is a collection of excretory products and mucus secretions of earthworm along with nutrients from the soil organic molecules. In organic farming system, it is used as foliar spray as well as applied at root zone for drenching purpose. Therefore, present investigation was carried out to find out the potential bacterial isolates from vermiwash and determine their antifungal traits against Sclerotium rolfsii, a soilborne plant pathogen that attacks stem and may infect roots, petioles, leaves and flowers of host plants. Only 4 bacterial isolates viz., VB2, PS3, PS26, PS23 out of 53 tested,showed antifungal activity against Sclerotium rolfsii to the tune of 29.26–45.12%. A total of 11 isolates showed HCN production while 13 showed proteolytic activity. Proteolytic activity and microbial production of HCN are important antifungal traits to control pathogenic fungi. Three bacterial isolates, PS3, PS23 and PS26 belonging to Pseudomonas sp. proved to be quite promising isolates towards the development of biocontrol agents as they showed multiple plant growth promoting traits. Details will be discussed
