​Efficacy of Bioagents against Sclerotinia Rot of Chickpea Incited by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Abstract

Background: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Barry is a soil-borne plant pathogen, capable of infecting more than 500 host plants worldwide. It is a major pathogen that plays a crucial role in reducing the yield of economically important crops. Sclerotinia rot also known as Stem rot or white mold, caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a serious disease of chickpea. Methods: The antagonistic potential of four bioagents i.e. Trichoderma harzianum (Th-BKN), Trichoderma viride (Tv-BKN), Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf-BKN) and Bacillus subtilis (Bs- BKN) were isolated from chickpea rhizospheric soil. The fungal bioagents were tested for their antagonistic potential against the pathogen in vitro by modified dual culture technique on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. While bacterial antagonists tested for their antagonistic potential against the pathogen in vitro by paper disc inoculation technique on Nutrient Agar (NA) and Pseudomonas Agar Fluorescens (PAF) media. Each treatment was replicated four times, incubated at 23±10°C, data on the antagonistic activity of different bioagents were recorded and percent inhibition was calculated for each antagonist. Result: The fungal antagonists T. harzianum (Th-BKN) resulted in maximum growth inhibition of the pathogen (70.48%) and bacterial antagonists, Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf-BKN) (37.56%) was more effective than the Bacillus subtilis (Bs- BKN).

Response of chickpea genotypes (Cicer arietinum L.) to the fungi complex that causes wilt

“…In the case of M. phaseolina, S. rolfsii, S. sclerotiorum, something similar happens to what has been described for Fusarium, because this group of fungi cannot be controlled efficiently through the use of chemical, physical and cultural control due to its wide range of hosts and its survival in the soil for long periods of time in form of sclerotia. Therefore, the method with greatest feasible effectiveness and economically viability is the use of tolerant chickpea genotypes (Khalifa et al, 2022;Sheshma et al, 2022).…”

Efficacy of biocontrol-agents and plant extracts against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum causing stem rot of chickpea

“…The crop is suffering from various fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases throughout the growing season. Besides Ascochyta blight and Fusarium wilt, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum causes stem rot or white mold and has been found to cause considerable economic losses to the crop (Sheshma et al 2022). As a legume, it plays a significant role in the nutrition of the rural and urban poor of the developing world by providing protein-rich supplements to cereal-based diets (Buhariwalla et al 2005).…”

Integration of Bioagents and Chemical Fungicides Against Sclerotinia Sclerotiorum Causing Stem Rot in Chickpea

“…The three most prevalent diseases that cause serious losses in chickpea plants are stem rot, collar rot, and damping-off. Sclerotiorum causes stem rot, also referred to as Sclerotinia wilt or white mold, which is a very harmful disease in chickpea (Sheshma et al, 2022). According to Kukreja (2018), some of the fungi that seriously affect chickpea crops are Alternaria sp., Ascochyta pisi, Uromyces sp., Botrytis sp., Fussarium sp., Sclerotinia sp., and Phytophthora medicaginis.…”