Efficacy of Trichoderma harzianum and Verticillium lecanii against Stem Rot, Collar Rot and Foliar Fungal Diseases of Groundnut

A field experiment was conducted to find the efficacy of Trichoderma harzianum isolate DGR T-170 and V. lecanii isolate DGR V-1 for the management of soil borne diseases (stem rot, collar rot and afla rot) and foliar diseases (early leaf spot, late leaf rot and rust) of groundnut during Kharif season for two consecutive years (2009 to 2010). Per cent incidence of soil borne diseases was found highly suppressed in the treatment that included foliar spray of T. harzianum spore suspension @ 1.5 × 10⁶ cfu/ml as 3 sprays starting from 1st appearance of disease and subsequent spray at 15 days interval (1.75, 2.59 and 1.03 respectively) and in another treatment that included foliar application of T. harzianum culture filtrate diluted as 50% (2.63, 2.50 and 0.66 respectively) compared to control (5.12, 5.03 and 5.38, respectively). The disease severity of foliar diseases was recorded lowest in the treatment that included foliar application of Trichoderma culture filtrate diluted as 50% (5.33, 4.22 and 3.56 respectively), and in another treatment that included foliar application of culture filtrate of V. lecanii diluted as 50% in two sprays at 15 days interval, 1^st spray at appearance of diseases and 2^nd spray after 15 days of 1^st spray (5.44, 3.89 and 3.67 respectively) followed by the treatment that included soil application of castor cake @ 500kg/ha + foliar application of culture filtrate of V. lecanii at 50% dilution (5.44, 4.00 and 3.22 respectively) compared to control (8.00, 7.49 and 6.56 respectively).