IN VITRO EVALUATION OF FUNGICIDES AND BIOCONTROL AGENTS AGAINST Sclerotium rolfsii AND Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Abstract

An experiment was conducted in the laboratory of Plant Pathology Division of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) during September 2021 to February 2022 to evaluate the efficacy of five fungicides and three biocontrol agents against two soil borne fungi, Sclerotium rolfsii and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Five chemical fungicides viz. Dithane M-45, Bavistin 50 DF, Ridomil Gold MZ 68 WP, Antracol 70 WP and Secure 600 WG and three biocontrol agents viz. BC1 (Trichoderma harzianum), BC2 (T. harzianum) and BC3 (T. viride) were evaluated. The sensitivity of the fungicides against S. rolfsii and S. sclerotiorum was tested by poison food technique. The antagonistic activity of the biocontrol agents was evaluated against the fungi through dual culture technique. Among the tested fungicides, the highest inhibition of mycelial growth (83.2% for S. rolfsii; 71.9% for S. sclerotiorum) and reduction of sclerotia production (44.8% for S. rolfsii; 34.4% for S. sclerotiorum) was recorded for Bavistin 50 DF. The biocontrol agent BC1 showed the highest inhibition of mycelial growth (78.2% for S. rolfsii; 39.4% for S. sclerotiorum) and reduction of sclerotia production (40.6% for S. rolfsii; 37.5% for S. sclerotiorum) for both fungi. Therefore, the biocontrol agent BC1 can be useful to suppress S. rolfsii and S. sclerotiorum.

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