Eco-friendly Management of Charcoal Rot of Sesame Caused by Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid

Abstract

The most damaging soil and seed-borne disease of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), which appears every year in Haryana and causes significant output losses, is charcoal rot disease, which is caused by Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid. Aim: The current experiment was conducted to learn more about the environmentally friendly management of M. phaseolina using botanicals and bio-agents, under in vitro and in vivo conditions  in the Department of Plant Pathology, CCSHAU, Hisar. Methodology: Under in vitro circumstances, the effectiveness of botanicals was assessed using the poison food technique. Seed treatment prior to sowing under screenhouse conditions was used to examine the effectiveness of both the botanicals and bio-agents. Results: The phytoextract of Lantana camara, among the botanicals tested for its effectiveness under in vitro conditions against M. phaseolina, inhibited maximum mycelial growth by 89.43% at a 20% concentration, followed by extract of Parthenium hysterophorus and garlic (Allium sativum), which inhibited up to 87.21 and 57.21%, respectively, at the same concentration. But ginger (Zingiber officinale), which only inhibited mycelial development by 26.94% at a 20% concentration, was shown to be the least effective. The most effective combination of phytoextracts and bio-agents for controlling the disease up to 36.43 percent in the HT-1 variety and 40.92 percent in the HT-2 variety was P. hysterophorus + T. harzianum, which controlled the disease up to 34.28 and 38.53 per cent, respectively, among the combinations of phytoextracts and bioagents tested under screen house conditions.