In vitro Effect of Bio-agents for Control of Alternaria Blight of Indian Mustard Incited by Alternaria brassicicola

Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern and Coss.] is one of the most popular rabi oil seed crop in India. It’s belonging to family Cruciferae (Brassicaceae). It is mostly cultivated rabi, crop of Northern as well as North eastern region of India. Indian mustard contributes about 85 per cent of total rapeseed-mustard production in India [1]. Crucial Indian mustard growing states are Rajasthan (50%), Uttar Pradesh (12.3%), Haryana (11.2%), Madhya Pradesh (9.8%), Gujrat (6.5%) and West Bengal (5.1%). Indian mustard is affected by many major diseases like Fungal, Bacterial, Viral, and also parasitic nematode. In mustard maximum losses in yield occurs due to microbial diseases. Among the major disease viz., Alternaria blight (Alternaria brassicae, Alternaria brassicicola, Alternaria alternata), White rust (Albugo candida), Downey mildew (Peronospora parasitica), Powdery mildew (Erysiphe cruciferarum), Bacterial blight (Pseudomonas cannabina), and Sclerotinia stem rot (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum). Alternaria blight of Indian mustard is one of the most important disease which reduce quantity and quality of seed yield. Alternaria blight disease is one of the damaging disease among the major diseases of mustard causing up to 70 per cent losses in yield with no proven source of resistance against the disease reported till date in any of the hosts. To control the losses caused by pathogens many farmers are using fungicides to obtain very good yield. The present study was carried out to recognize the effect of different bioagents on control against Alternaria brassicicola under in-vitro condition. Four antagonists viz., Trichoderma viride, Trichoderma harzianum, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis, checked the growth of Alternaria brassicicola at point of their contact on culture medium. Among these, maximum inhibition (78.05%) of Alternaria brassicicola was observed in Trichoderma harzianum.