Eco-friendly Management of Collar Rot of Lentil by Introduced Native Rhizobacterial Candidates

Background: Collar rot is an important disease of lentil in India and causes significant yield loss annually. Considering the recent focus on the development and use of environmentally feasible management strategies, the objectives of the study was to identify resistant sources and evaluation of native antagonists as well as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) in yield improvement and disease management of lentil. Methods: Eleven popular lentil varieties were screened for resistance/susceptibility reaction against collar rot in vivo. The efficacy of two bacterial and fungal biocontrol agents (BCAs) was tested against a virulent isolate of Sclerotium rolfsii. Four PGPRs were also evaluated to study their influence on the growth parameters as well as their ability to manage S. rolfsii. Result: Three genotypes were found to be tolerant, four genotypes were moderately susceptible, while four genotypes were highly susceptible. Among the BCAs, the highest average inhibition % was observed in treatment with Bacillus sp. Among the PGPR treatments, Rhizobium in combination with phosphate solubilizing bacteria and Trichoderma or Bacillus was the most effective in controlling the collar rot when used as seed treatment and hence can be used for disease management.