ECO-FRIENDLY MANAGEMENT OF SCLEROTINIA ROT OF RAPESEED- MUSTARD CAUSED BY SCLEROTINIA SCLEROTIORUM (LIB) DE BARY
Pooja Upadhyay and A. K Tiwari
Abstract
Sclerotinia rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum has become a serious constraint in production and productivity of rapeseed-mustard in India. The present experiment was carried out on evaluation of botanicals, animal wastes, non toxic chemicals, bio-agents and micro nutrients for management of pathogen in both in-vitro and field conditions to develop Integrated Disease Management (IDM) module. Animal waste products (cow urine, cow dung, vermiwash), botanicals (garlic bulb, onion bulb, neem kernel, eucalyptus leaves) were evaluated in vitro at different levels of concentration (1, 2.5 and 10 %) by mycelial inhibition test while non toxic chemicals (sodium bicarbonate, oxalic acid, calcium carbonate and calcium sulphate) were evaluated at three levels (0.2, 0.5, 1 and 2%) concentration by same method. Treatments which were found successful under in-vitro were evaluated under field condition against artificially inoculated pathogen along with formulations of bio agents (Trichoderma, Pseudomonas and their combinations) and micronutrients (Borax, oxalic acid, zinc oxide and their combinations). Among them cow urine at 5%, garlic bulb extract at 10% and sodium bi carbonate at 1% found effective with 100% inhibition of mycelial growth in vitro. Under field conditions among all treatments garlic bulb extract and cow urine depicted maximum reduction in disease incidence of 30%, at 5 and 10 percent respectively followed by sodium bicarbonate and calcium bi carbonate at 1 and 2 percent respectively with 50 percent disease incidence. However, rest of the treatments were not found much effective under field conditions as they showed disease incidence ranging between 56.6 to 80 percent. Hence natural or eco-friendly products were found most effective in managing sclerotinia rot disease in lab as well as under field conditions. So it can be a potential and eco-friendly alternative for chemicals in managing this disease for future use.
Keywords: Rape seed, Mustard, Sclerotinia rot, S. sclerotiorum