Integrated Management of Root Rot Disease Complex of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Incited by Concomitant Occurrence of Rhizoctonia solani and Meloidogyne javanica

Abstract

Tomato (S. lycopersicum L.) is an important vegetable crop not only for its economic importance but also because of its nutritional value. The root rot disease complex of tomato is considered as a common problem in tomato fields of Haryana due to concomitant occurrence of R. solani and M. javanica. It is very difficult to manage the disease complex through fungicides and nematicides alone which despite of being costly are not eco-friendly as well. Therefore, in this study, an attempt was made to explore and exploit other methods of root rot disease complex management in an integrated manner. The different treatments like organic amendment (mustard cake), fungicide (Carbendazim 50 % WP), mycorrhizal fungi (Glomus mosseae) and biocontrol agent (Trichoderma harzianum) were evaluated in different combinations for the integrated management of root rot disease complex in tomato cv. Hisar Arun (Selection 7). The evaluation of different treatments and their combinations under in vivo condition revealed that a significantly low disease incidence (10.5 per cent) and a maximum disease control of 83.4 per cent was observed when seeds were dressed with Carbendazim 50 % WP @ 2g/kg seed and sown in soils incorporated with T. harzianum (10g/kg soil), G. mosseae (200 sporocarps/kg soil) and mustard cake (2g/kg soil). It was followed by disease incidence of 13.7 per cent when Carbendazim dressed seeds (2g/kg seed) were sown in soil incorporated with T. harzianum (10g/kg soil) and mustard cake (2g/kg soil). It is possible to manage the disease complex only by the use of integration of different treatments including seed dressing with carbendazim, soil incorporation of T. harzianum, G. mosseae and soil amendments with mustard cake which acted in a synergistic way.