MANAGEMENT OF RHIZOCTONIA SOLANI BY USING ANTAGONIST, BOTANICALS AND ESSENTIAL OILS

Abstract

Different strains of Trichoderma harzianum, plant extracts, and essential oils were evaluated against the growth of Rhizoctonia solani the causal agent of aerial blight of soybean. The studies revealed that Th-2 strain of Trichoderma harzianum was the best in inhibiting the growth (86.7 %) of the pathogen R. solani, while least effective strain was Th-9 showed only 76.2% inhibition. Amongst the four plant extracts, Onion extract was found most effective in inhibiting (100%) the growth whereas Eucalyptus exhibited minimum inhibition (3.2%) in the growth at 20% concentration. Among the five essential oils tested; Mentha, Citronella and Peppermint showed 100% inhibition in the mycelial growth of the test fungus at both the concentrations i.e. 4μL and 8μL. The result concluded that the disease can be managed by using plant extracts, essential oils and biocontrol agents which are all ecofriendly ways to manage disease without any harm to environment and non target plants.