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Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa
In the imperial Gazetteer of India 1878, Pusa was recorded as a government estate of about 1350 acres in Darbhanba. It was acquired by East India Company for running a stud farm to supply better breed of horses mainly for the army. Frequent incidence of glanders disease (swelling of glands), mostly affecting the valuable imported bloodstock made the civil veterinary department to shift the entire stock out of Pusa. A British tobacco concern Beg Sutherland & co. got the estate on lease but it also left in 1897 abandoning the government estate of Pusa.
Lord Mayo, The Viceroy and Governor General, had been repeatedly trying to get through his proposal for setting up a directorate general of Agriculture that would take care of the soil and its productivity, formulate newer techniques of cultivation, improve the quality of seeds and livestock and also arrange for imparting agricultural education. The government of India had invited a British expert. Dr. J. A. Voelcker who had submitted as report on the development of Indian agriculture. As a follow-up action, three experts in different fields were appointed for the first time during 1885 to 1895 namely, agricultural chemist (Dr. J. W. Leafer), cryptogamic botanist (Dr. R. A. Butler) and entomologist (Dr. H. Maxwell Lefroy) with headquarters at Dehradun (U.P.) in the forest Research Institute complex.
Surprisingly, until now Pusa, which was destined to become the centre of agricultural revolution in the country, was lying as before an abandoned government estate. In 1898. Lord Curzon took over as the viceroy. A widely traveled person and an administrator, he salvaged out the earlier proposal and got London’s approval for the appointment of the inspector General of Agriculture to which the first incumbent Mr. J. Mollison (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Bombay) joined in 1901 with headquarters at Nagpur
The then government of Bengal had mooted in 1902 a proposal to the centre for setting up a model cattle farm for improving the dilapidated condition of the livestock at Pusa estate where plenty of land, water and feed would be available, and with Mr. Mollison’s support this was accepted in principle. Around Pusa, there were many British planters and also an indigo research centre Dalsing Sarai (near Pusa). Mr. Mollison’s visits to this mini British kingdom and his strong recommendations. In favour of Pusa as the most ideal place for the Bengal government project obviously caught the attention for the viceroy.
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ThesisItem Open Access Morphological characterization of red rot pathogen of sugarcane and its management(RPCAU, Pusa, 2023) Sameera, Gedela Venkata Hima; Singh, S.N.One of the most significant cash crops in the world, Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is grown in more than 80 different nations for the production of white sugar, bio-ethanol, jaggery and other by-products. India produces 20% of the world's sugarcane, and the largest producer of sugar. In Bihar as per recent reports (Directorate of Economics & Statistics 2020-2021) sugarcane covers an area of 0.22 mha having cane production of 10.71mt and productivity of 48.92 t/ha. Based on the survey it was found that the maximum red rot incidence was observed in the sugarcane cultivar Co 0238 (45%) dominating over all the varieties growing in both the districts viz. Samastipur and Gopalganj. covering more than 70 per cent sugarcane area. Cultivars BO 91 and Rajendra Ganna- 1 were found free from the infection of red rot. Out of the two districts, Samastipur district was more affected with red rot disease with mean disease incidence of 18.18 per cent as compared to Gopalganj district (12.26%). Seven isolates were obtained from the collected diseased specimen where the colour of the mycelium of all the isolates varied as whitish grey, greyish white, and pinkish white. The texture of the mycelium was either fluffy, abundant, aerial, scanty raised mycelium. The shape of the conidia was observed as falcate. The average length of the conidia ranged from 21.32µm to 27.37 µm and the average width varied from 4.10 µm to 4.39 µm. Four bio control agents were tested for their antagonistic potential against Colletototrichum falcatum in vitro as well as under field conditions where Bacillus subtilis showed maximum inhibition of test fungus mycelium (69.4%) in bacterial bio control agents whereas in fungal bio control agents, Trichoderma harzianum showed maximum mycelial inhibition (63.9%) and maximum bud germination was recorded in plots treated with Trichoderma harzianum (35.5%), minimum settling mortality (5.3%) and minimum red rot incidence (20.3%) as compared to control (29.0%), (11.3%), (38.1%) respectively. Four SAR molecules were tested for their antifungal properties against Colletotrichum falcatum in vitro and under field conditions, Salicylic acid showed 100 per cent inhibition of radial growth of mycelium at all three concentrations and Potassium silicate showed 100 per cent inhibition of mycelial growth at 1500 ppm and 2000 ppm concentrations and maximum bud germination was recorded in plots treated with Potassium silicate(PSi) (36.3%), minimum settling mortality (4.9%) and minimum red rot incidence (25.5%) as compared to control (27.0%), (12.4%), (39.8%) respectively. Management of red rot disease of sugarcane by integration of bio control agents and fungicides revealed that treatment T7 (Sett treatment with Carbendazim 50 WP @ 0.1% + soil drenching with T.harzianum @ 0.6% + three foliar application with fungicide Azoxystrobin 11% + Tebuconazole 18.3% @ 0.1%) and treatment T8 (Sett treatment with Carbendazim 50 WP @ 0.1% + soil drenching with T.harzianum @ 0.6% + three foliar application with fungicide Thiophanate methyl 70 WP @ 0.1%) have the potential to control the disease and ultimately enhanced the performance of yield attributing characters, yield and quality such as brix, pol and purity per cent. This finding established the fact that integration of bio control agents and fungicides can be used for effective management of the red rot disease of sugarcane. SAR molecules may also be an alternative of fungicides.ThesisItem Open Access Efficacy of potential bio-control agents isolated from Papaya rhizosphere and new generation fungicides against root rot of Papaya incited by Fusarium solani (Mart.) Sacc.(RPCAU, Pusa, 2023) MEENA, MADHU BAI; SINGH, S.K.Papaya (Carica Papaya L.) the versatile tropical fruit is a globally important crop which supports livelihood of millions of people. India is ranked first in production of Papaya and Bihar is ranked fourteenth among major Papaya producing states.Root rot incited by a soil borne fungi i.e. Fusarium solani is one of the most devastating disease of Papaya since last decade. This disease of Papaya has emerged as a serious threat for the Papaya crop cultivation in Bihar’s agro-climatic condition. The disease needs immediate attention as 90-95 per cent crop failure has been reported and mostly all existing varieties of Papaya are highly susceptible to this disease. Disease can only be managed effectively by use of resistant varieties which are scanty at present. Due to soil borne nature of pathogen, chemical and cultural methods are also not effective. Hence biological control is only plausible and explorable approach. Hence, this study was aimed to isolate microflora from rhizosphere of Papaya plants to evaluate their antagonistic potential against Fusarium solani causing root rot. Among total 38 isolates obtained from Papaya rhizosphere 07 isolates were selected on basis of their promising antagonistic potential against Fusarium solani. The selected isolates showed Percent inhibition as follows: RB-13(79.59%), RB-15(80.70%), RB-24 (83.95%), RB-32 (86.48%), RB-25(89.30%), RB-29, (91.00%) and RB-34(93.85%). Preliminary identification based on Gram reaction and KOH test, revealed that RB-13, RB-15, RB-24, RB-25, RB-29, RB-32 were gram positive and RB-34 was gram negative bacterial isolates. Furthermore, qualitative study of biochemical characters revealed that among 07 isolates, RB-32 was positive for catalase test, NH3 production and Siderophore production whereas none of the isolates were found to be producing HCN. Out of these 07 isolates, further screening was done and 04 isolates exhibiting more than 85% Percent inhibition were selected. These isolates RB-25, RB-29, RB-32 and RB-34 were molecularly identified as Bacillus cereus (Bacterium te30A), Bacillus subtilis, Alcaligenes sp. and Bacillus velezensis respectively. All these bacterial biocontrol agents were first time isolated from Papaya rhizosphere and tested against Fusarium solani (Root rot disease causing pathogen). In vitro evaluation of ten new generation fungicides at 50,100,150,250, and 500 ppm against Fusarium solani. Metalaxyl + Mancozeb was found most effective @100 ppm exhibiting inhibition percent of 93.41% followed by Tebuconazole @ 91.18 as compared to check. Moreover, Fosetyl-Al @ 100ppm was found least effective among all fungicides showing the inhibition percent of 25.92%.ThesisItem Open Access Management of Sheath rot of Rice caused by Sarocladium oryzae(RPCAU, Pusa, 2023) CHETANKUMAR; Ranjan, R KRice is worlds' second most important cereal crop, with approximately two-thirds of the world's population relying on it for survival. Numerous biotic and abiotic elements have an impact on rice production. Among the many biotic variables impacting rice production and productivity, fungus, bacteria, virus, and nematodes are the most significant constraints responsible for low productivity. Sheath rot has emerged as a serious disease that causes qualitative and quantitative yield losses ranging from 3-85%. During Kharif 2022 survey conducted in Samastipur, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga districts of Bihar indicated the maximum disease incidence (22.01%) in Birauli village of Samastipur district and the lowest (2.95%) in Dwarkapur village of Muzaffarpur district. All the villages in districts showed significant variance in disease incidence. Five different solid media tested for cultural characters of S. oryzae, Malt extract agar showed maximum growth (90 mm) at 30 DAI, followed by Oat meal agar (75 mm). The colour of the mycelium on different media varied from milky white to pinkish white and type of growth varied from spreading circular to raised circular. In the current assessment 111 genotypes screened against sheath rot disease of rice, among them one genotype was found to be highly resistant and thirty-three genotypes were found to be resistant to sheath rot disease. In the present investigation, antagonistic bioagents were tested for their in vitro antagonistic effect against S. oryzae, Trichoderma sp. (Tr-1) produced 76.72% growth inhibition of S. oryzae. Three organic products are tested at 2% and 5% concentrations, at both the concentrations, the organic product Jeevamrut showed 100% inhibition. Six medicinal plant extracts were tested at 5% and 10% concentrations, Sadabahar inhibited S. oryzae growth by 79.31% at 10% concentration. Five essential oils were evaluated at concentrations of 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.1% and 0.2%. Lemongrass oil was shown to be efficient with 100% suppression at all four concentrations. Nine new fungicides are evaluated at concentrations of 100ppm, 250ppm and 500ppm. Propiconazole 13.9% + Difenconazole 13.9% EC showed 100 % growth inhibition of S. oryzae when tested in vitro using the poisoned food technique at three different concentrations.ThesisItem Open Access Morpho-cultural variability and management of Colletotrichum capsici (Sydow) causing leaf spot disease of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.)(RPCAU, Pusa, 2023) Bhaskar, Ambarish; Mishra, A. K.Turmeric crop suffers very badly due to Colletotrichum capsici causing leaf spot disease in terms of both quantitative and qualitative losses across India and world. Especially in rainy season under humid condition, it affect the crop severely. Therefore, the current study was undertaken on Morpho-cultural variability and management of Colletotrichum capsici involving different culture media adjusted at different pH and at different temperature. In in vitro management of C. capsici, six different aqueous plant extracts and fungicides was used. In study of colony characters of different isolates of pathogen: different colour, shape, elevation with different type of margin and texture were observed under study. The interaction effect on mycelial growth of all three isolates on PDA media was found significant. However, the max. mycelial growth of 77.00 mm was recorded in isolate, V3 on 8th day. The interaction effect on mycelial growth of all three isolates on CDA media was found non-significant. However, the max. mycelial growth of 90.00 mm was recorded in isolate V2 and V3 on 8th day. Irrespective of isolates, statistically significant max. mycelial growth of 89.33 mm was found on 8th day followed by 79.83 on 6th day respectively. In interaction effect of different isolates at different time interval in RSA media, max. mycelial growth of 90.00 mm followed by 81.50 were found in isolate V3 on 8th and 6th day respectively. At 5 per cent conc., min. mycelial growth of pathogen (35.33 mm) followed by 49.33 mm and consequently 60.74 and 45.19 per cent inhibition in pathogen growth over absolute check was recorded in culture media amended with aqueous extract of Ashoka and tobacco respectively. Irrespective of botanicals used, min. mycelial growth was observed at 15% conc. followed by 10% conc. and both of these conc. was found to be statistically significant in their effect. At 100 ppm, no mycelial pathogen growth was observed in ready mixture of Azoxystorbin 7.1% SC + Propiconazole 11.9% SC (Azoxy P) followed by Propiconazole 25% SC (Tilt). Here, both treatments were found to be statistically significant in their effect. At 250 ppm conc., no mycelial growth was found in ready mixture of Azoxystorbin 7.1% SC + Propiconazole 11.9% SC (Azoxy P) and Propiconazole 25% SC (Tilt) used as standard check, followed by Hexaconazole 5% EC (Contaf). These treatments were found statistically significant in their effect in supressing pathogen growth. At 500 ppm conc., no mycelial growth was observed in ready mixture fungicide, Azoxystorbin 7.1% SC + Propiconazole 11.9%SC (Azoxy P), Propiconazole 25% SC (Tilt) used as standard check and Hexaconazole 5% EC (Contaf) followed by ready mixture of Azoxystorbin 11% SC + Tebuconazole 18.3% SC (Suzuki). Irrespective of fungicides used, min. mycelial growth of pathogen was observed at 500 ppm conc. followed by 250 ppm conc. and effect of both the conc. on pathogen growth were found statistically significant. In interaction effect of different fungicides, no growth of pathogen was observed in ready mixture fungicide of Azoxystorbin 7.1% SC + Propiconazole 11.9%SC (Azoxy P) at all conc., used. Propiconazole 25% SC (Tilt) used as standard check at 250 ppm and 500 ppm and Hexaconazole 5% EC (Contaf) at 500 ppm followed by ready mixture of Azoxystorbin 11% SC + Tebuconazole 18.3% SC (Suzuki) and all these treatments were found statistically significant, over absolute check in their effect.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of Date of Sowing on Sheath Blight of Rice caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn and it’s management(RPCAU, Pusa, 2023) V, ARAVIND G; Ranjan, R KSheath blight disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn is a major disease of rice which causes an economic yield loss. The present study was undertaken to know the status of sheath blight disease, effect of date of sowing on disease incidence with relation to weather parameters and to evaluate the new fungicides molecules, medicinal plant extracts and organic products against R. solani at different concentration in in vitro condition. InKharif 2022 survey conducted in Samastipur and Muzaffarpur districts of Bihar and recorded percent disease incidence (PDI) of Sheath Blight of rice. The survey data revealed that Birauli village of Samastipur recorded highest disease incidence with 27.33% PDI in hybrid rice. While lowest PDI recorded in the villageMirapur of Muzaffarpur district with 2.5% PDI. And this survey also reveals that highest percent disease incidence was observed in the villages of Samastipur district compared to the Muzaffarpur district. Study on effect of date of sowing on incidence of Sheath Blight of rice, to know the effective date of sowing of rice to tackle Sheath Blight of rice, crop was sown at three different dates that is early (15/06/2022), normal (30/06/2022) and late (15/07/2022). Maximum disease severity was observed in early sown crop with 15.7% followed by normal sowing (8.58%) and minimum was recorded in late sowing (4.3%). Hence late sowing emerged as effective date of sowing to minimize the severity of Sheath Blight of rice. Weather parameters played important role in Sheath Blight disease development in rice. Disease severity negatively correlated with maximum temperature and minimum temperature. And positively related with morning relative humidity and evening relative humidity. And rainfall is positively correlated with early sown and normal sown but negatively correlated with late sown crop. For the management of the Sheath Blight of rice, seven fungicides were screened at three different concentrations that is 100 ppm, 250 ppm and 500 ppm. Among them Pyraclostrobin 10% CS was most effective inhibiting 100% growth of pathogen at lowest 100 ppm concentrations followed by Propiconazole 25% EC inhibited 65.55% of growth of mycelia. Besides this six medicinal plant extracts were tested at 5% and 10% concentrations, among them, at 10% concentration of tulsi showed 100% inhibition followed by kalmeg and mandukaparni both showing 71.15% inhibition. In addition to that three organic products were also screened at 2% & 5% concentration, among them panchagavya was effective at 5% concentration with 100% inhibition.ThesisItem Open Access Integrative Approaches for Fusarium Wilt Disease Management in Lentil(Dr.RPCAU, Pusa, 2023) Chaurasiya, Dilip Kumar; Sahni, SangitaIn summary, the study aimed to identify sources of host resistance against the wilt pathogen in lentil genotypes. Out of 114 genotypes tested, only 4 were found to be resistant, 33 were moderately resistant, 30 were moderately susceptible, and 30 were susceptible to the disease. The study used 12 SSR primers to analyze 10 genotypes and found that 11 of the primers were polymorphic. The SSR113 primer pair was the most polymorphic and showed the highest heterozygosity among all the genotypes tested. The study also examined the genetic similarity among varieties and found that the highest genetic similarity was 84.2% between SL 20-Q and IPL-606, and the least genetic similarity was 13.8% between VL-507 and BL-18. The study also evaluated the antagonistic activity of 30 Pseudomonas isolates against the pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lentis and found that PGPR 18 exhibited the highest percent mycelial growth inhibition at 85.19%. The study further characterized the potential Pseudomonas isolates based on their biochemical characters such as P-solubilization, K-solubilization, IAA production, NH3 production, siderophore production, HCN production, amylase activity, catalase, and citrate utilization. Out of the 6 isolates tested, 5 were found to have P-solubilization ability, 3 had K-solubilization ability, 2 were positive for citrate utilization, and 5 were positive for indole production. Two isolates (PGPR-18 and PGPR-16) were found to have the highest cellulase activity. Substituting soil with vermicompost (VC) at 5%, 10%, and 15% levels improved growth parameters of lentil plants such as emergence, height, number of branches, pods, seeds, and fresh and dry weights. The highest growth was observed at 15% VC substitution (T5) followed by 10% and 5% VC substitution. Seed bacterization with PGPR18 alone also improved growth parameters, but the best results were obtained when it was combined with VC substitution. Among all eight treatments, the combination of 15% VC substitution and seed bacterization (T8) resulted in the best growth and seed yield, followed by T7 and T6. The use of Salicylic acid as a pre-inoculation foliar spray greatly reduced wilt incidence in lentil plants, resulting in a 52.71% wilt incidence compared to 72.36% with ZnSO4. The combination of Salicylic acid with seed bacterization with PGPR18 and vermicompost amendments resulted in the least wilt incidence of 3.75%. Treatment T9, a combination of 15% vermicompost amendment and seed bacterization with PGPR18 without non-conventional chemicals, also showed significant results with 21.69% wilt incidence recorded 30 days after. Overall, all treatments showed high suppression of wilt disease when applied 24 hours before pathogen inoculation and Salicylic acid was found to be more effective than ZnSO4.ThesisItem Open Access Studies on Leaf blight of Oilseed Brassica incited by Alternaria spp.(Dr.RPCAU, Pusa, 2022) Kumar, Sanjeet; Choudhary, C. S.Rapeseed-Mustard globally known as “Oilseed brassica” holds the status of the third most important oilseed crop with the production of about 72 MT from about 35 m ha area. In terms of area and production, India stands third place, and fifth place in terms of productivity. Currently in India, oilseed brassica is dominated by Indian mustard (B. juncea) covering 90% acreage. Alternaria leaf blight caused by A. brassicae (Berk.) Sacc., is the most destructive disease of Indian mustard without any confirmed source of transferable resistance, causing yield loss of 47% and reported from all parts of the world. This disease affects and damage foliage, stem, branches and pods of the brassica crop resulting into severe deterioration of both seed yield and oil content. Considering its seriousness, the present investigations were accomplished to understand the current status of disease severity and related variability in the pathogen in Bihar as well as efficacy of cultural, chemical, botanical, biological and SAR methods to minimize the yield loss. Alternaria blight disease of oilseed brassica prevailed in all parts of Bihar with varying severity from 35.30% at Bhagalpur in zone IIIA to 61.85 percent at Dholi, Muzaffarpur in zone I. The disease symptoms first appear on inter-rib tissues of lower leaves as small round, minute brown to blackish spots usually surrounded with zone of yellow halo that form lesions of varying sizes with inside concentric rings, lesions coalesce to cause blighting and defoliation of leaves. The symptom as elongated lesions with both ends in pointed shape with ash coloured center, appear on stem and branches and as sunken, dark-brown spots and lesions on pods. The symptom became noticeable in the first week of December month at lower leaves of the crop of 45-50 days age, which increased to maximum 54.2% on leaf and 48.2% on pods till crop maturity stage. Weather condition during reproductive phase of crop favoured the rapid progress of disease. On the basis of morphological characters of the pathogen isolated from all the surveyed areas, it was identified as Alternaria brassicae. Among 15 collected isolates of the pathogen from surveyed sites, a large extent of variability had been found. Variability in the conidial length from 100 to 330μm, thickness from 14 to 48 μm and beak length from 48 to 178 μm, number of transverse septa from 8 to 18, number of longitudinal septa from 0 to 8, mycelial growth from 44.82 mm on A & H Agar media to 68.76 mm on Richards Agar, colony colour on PDA from olivaceous black to whitish black, growth pattern adherent circular or fluffy circular, mycelial dry weight of 121.30 mg in AHA to 185.30 mg in RA, spore density of isolates in x 103 number per ml from 2.47 in Czapek's Dox Agar to 7.56 in Mustard leaf decoction were recorded. Among 15 isolates, 4 were found highly virulent, 7 as moderately virulent and other 4 as virulent. Dendrogram of molecular variability using ISSR primers also categorized isolates into four groups with variable polymorphism and dissimilarity. In bioassay studies of eight fungicides Propiconazole 25EC and Trifloxystrobin 25% + Tebuconazole 50% WG were proved to be 100 % inhibitory to A. brassicae in in vitro at all three tested concentration of 250, 500 and 1000 μg/ml; of six botanical extracts used at 5, 10, 15 and 20 % concentrations; Tobacco, Neem and Garlic extract at 20 % proved to be 81.9%, 72.2% and 51.4% inhibitory respectively; of four SAR activators used at concentration of 50,100,150 and 200 μg/ml; Azoxystrobin, INA, BABA and SA at 200 μg/ml proved to be 43.83, 27.78, 22.22, 14.81% inhibitory respectively. In antagonism study, all the four antagonists T. viride, T. harzianum, P. flourescens and B. subtilis inhibited the growth of test pathogen by 79.52, 73.49, 61.44 and 42.17 % respectively in dual culture. Microscopic observation on hyphal interactions between T. viride and A. brassicae showed lysis, protoplasmic disintegration and coiling around the mycelia of A. brassicae at many locations. Under field condition, timely sown crop on 15th October at spacing of 30 X 10 cm2 gave maximum yield of 1865.5 kg ha-1 found at par to 1831.5 kg ha-1 with spacing of 30 x 20 cm2. Successive delay in sowing from 15th October to 15th November resulted into rapid enhanced of the severity of Alternaria blight on leaf (from 19.53 to 55.39%), on pod (from 10.45 to 48.79%) and thereby gradual reduction of test weight of seed (from 5.51g to 4.56 g) and seed yield (from 1810.50 to 996.10 kg/ha) of mustard crop. Widening of spacing from 30 x 10 cm2 to 60 x 20 cm2 resulted into slight reduction of the disease severity on leaf and on pod, slight enhancement of test weight but decreased the seed yield from 1488.50 kg to 1390.90 kg/ha. Successive 10 days delay in sowing from 15th October to 15th November increased the days to attain 50 % flowering from 58 days to 66 days but shortened the days to attain physiological maturity from 148 to 136 days, thereby reducing the reproductive phase from 90 to 70 days which coupled with increased disease severity resulted into drastic reduction of yield by 44.11% (from 1866 to 1043 kg/ha), net return by 46.62 % (from Rs. 87,620 to Rs. 38,010 per ha) and Benefit: Cost ratio from 3.04 to 2.09. In bio control trial T. viridae and T. harzianum, proved at par in reducing the disease intensity by 44.76 and 39.52 %, enhancing the seed yield by 22.99 and 19.7 % and gave the ICBR of 1: 3.04 and 1: 2.61 respectively. Among botanical extracts Garlic gave maximum disease reduction of 36.61%, seed yield of 1484 kg ha-1 with increase of 18.34 % followed by yield of 1456 kg ha-1 with increase of 16.11% in Tobacco extract, but the highest ICBR of 1:5.34 obtained with Tobacco due to its low cost. In fungicidal trial Propiconazole 25EC @ 0.1% proved to be most economical and effective with ICBR of 1: 5.64, disease reduction by 72.49 %, yield of 1700.50 kg ha-1 and yield enhancement by 36.75 % followed by Trifloxystrobin 25% + Tebuconazole 50% WG @0.1% with ICBR of 1: 3.35, disease reduction by 75.73%, yield of 1731.50 kg ha-1 and yield enhancement by 39.24 %. In SAR trial Isonicotinic Acid (INA) caused maximum disease reduction by 53.12%, yield of 1637.5 kg ha-1 with its enhancement by 31.16 % and ICBR of 1:6.58 which was found at par with Salicylic acid (SA) in terms of yield (1603.00 kg ha-1) with its increase by 28.39% and ICBR of 1:5.99.ThesisItem Open Access Studies on Variability and Eco-friendly Management of Sugarcane Red Rot Disease Caused by Colletotrichum falcatum Went.(Dr.RPCAU, Pusa, 2022) SINGH, PRIYA; Minnatullah, Md.Sugarcane is an economically important agro-industrial crop cultivated in tropical as well as subtropical parts of the country. It is chief source of white sugar, jaggery, khandsari and other bio products. The low yield and productivity of sugarcane can be attributed to infection by numerous plant diseases. Among them, red rot disease caused by Colletotrichum falcatum Went. is the most common and dreaded disease of sugarcane. The sugarcane plant exhibiting typical red rot symptoms were collected from the various reserved areas of sugar factories in Bihar. A total of twenty seven isolates of pathogen was obtained and they were studied for their cultural and morphological characteristics. The various colour of colony such as white, whitish grey, greyish white, ashy grey, light brown and pinkish white and colony margin either smooth or irregular were observed. The various pigmentation on the reverse side of the plate viz. creamish, light yellow, dark yellow, light pink and black were observed. The mycelia of the isolates were either aerial or subaerial, sparse, scanty or abundant with flat, slightly raised to fluffy texture. The average length of conidia varied from 19.87 to 31.47 μm and width varied from 3.74 to 4.72 μm. The pathogenic behaviour of the isolates revealed that fourteen isolates were similar to Pathotype-1 (CF 08), six isolates as Pathotype-2 (CF 07) and seven isolates behaved as Pathotype-3 (CF 01). Amongst 48 genotypes/varieties evaluated against sugarcane red rot disease, 10 genotypes/varieties were graded as resistant, 26 as moderately resistant, 6 as moderately susceptible and 6 as susceptible against the isolate CF 07. However, 8 genotypes/varieties showed resistant, 24 as moderately resistant, 8 as moderately susceptible and 8 as susceptible reaction against CF 08 isolate. In vitro efficacy of fungicide indicated that Carbendazim was most effective in inhibiting the mycelial growth of the test fungus followed by Propiconazole while, Azoxystrobin was least effective against all the three pathotypes. In vitro evaluation of botanicals revealed that Neem leaf extracts proved most efficacious followed by Tulsi while, Bael was least effective against all the three pathotypes of red rot pathogen. Amongst all the intercrops evaluated with sugarcane under field condition for two consecutive cropping seasons i.e. 2019-20 and 2020-21, sugarcane intercropped with garlic showed outstanding results in both the cropping seasons followed by coriander while lentil was most inferior among all the treatments in reducing red rot disease, enhancing germination and yield attributes of sugarcane. Among all the fungicides, botanicals and micronutrients evaluated under the field condition for two cropping seasons i.e. 2020-21 and 2021-22, Sett treatment + drenching + spraying with Carbendazim + Furrow application of Borax + Zinc sulphate proved most effective in reducing red rot disease incidence and enhancing all other cane attributes. Although botanicals were inferior in comparison to three used fungicidal treatments however, botanicals were found comparatively superior to fungicides in terms of enhancing micronutrients availability and soil quality. The botanicals positively favoured the availability of soil organic carbon, availability of macronutrients (N, P and K) and micronutrients (Fe, Mn and Cu) in the soil. Based on the above findings, it may be concluded that a holistic combination of various disease management approaches i.e. selection of resistant varieties for planting, intercropping of sugarcane with suitable crops, use of fungicides, botanicals as well as micronutrients would lead to long term sustainability and higher profitabilityThesisItem Open Access Screening of Pigeonpea Genotypes & Evaluation of Botanicals in-vitro condition against Fusarium wilt disease(Dr.RPCAU, Pusa, 2022) Kumari, Jyoti; Kumar, BirendraPigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) Millsp), also known as tur or arhar in India is a valuable pulse crop predominantly cultivated in tropical areas and in India. Pigeopea having a significant place among the family Fabaceae. The legume crop pigeopae is kharif season crop and has wider adaptability requires low input in cropping practice. The heavy shedding of leaves adds considerable organic matter in to the soil. Pigeonpea is the 4th ranked pulse crop in the world. In India, Pigeonpea is the 2nd most important pulse crop after chickpea. Among a few variables known to influence pigeonpea development, the most significant is the effect of diseases like Cercospora leaf spot, Fusarium wilt, collar rot, Phytopthara blight, dry root rot , Alternaria leaf spot, phyllody and sterility mosaic. It just so happens, a couple of them causes monetary misfortunes in India (Kannaiyan et al., 1984). Among the illnesses, Fusarium wilt ,incited by Fusarium udum, is the main soil borne disease and was first revealed from Bihar state in Quite a while (Butler, 1906). During the present study, the varietal screenings were conducted in a simulated environment under wilt sick plot. Out of one hundred forty eight genotypes evaluated under wilt sick plot, fifty four genotypes viz. ICP 8863, NAM 88, TJT 501, BDN 2019-5, WRGE 134, BDN 2019-9, AKTE 16-12, PT 11-4-4-1, BDN 716, JKM 189, NAM 151, BDN 2019-34, AKTM 1914, PT 12-5-5-1, GJP 20011, SKNP 1715, BAUPP 18-7, BAU PP 16-38, WRG 391, LRG 471, IPAL 20-5, IPAL 20-24, PT 2017-1, WRGE 124, PT 10- 1-1-2, BDN 2013-2, PT 11-16, GRG 622, GJP 19-15, AKTM 1637, IPA 19-26, IPA 19-43, IPA 19-6, IPA 18-8, IPA 14-2, BSMR 736, BWR 243, BWR 853, BWR 254, BWR 553, BWR 316, BSMR 2, BSMR65, BSMR-1, BSMR 339, BWR 23, BWR 164, BWR 153 and BWR 133 were found resistant and fifty six genotypes viz. AL 2324, PusaArhar 21-1, PusaArhar 21-60, PusaArhar 21-27, PusaArhar 21-29, CRG 16-01, PT 0012, BDN 711,AKTE 1905, LRG 467, RVKT 383, NAM 92, BDN 2013-5, RVSA 2020-6, RVSA 2020-7, RVSA 2020-8, LRG 224, LRG 275, AKTM 1917, GJP 2008, WRG 390, RKPV 821,-01, RKPV 810-01, NPD 18-03, KA 19-05, IPAL 20-1, IPAL 20-11, RVSA 14-2, WRGE 138, PT 2017-2, PUSA 197, MAL53, PA 15-21, IPA 14-6, IPA 11-45, IPA 15-1,IPA 16-18, GTH I, SKNPCH 1906, WRG 65, PAH 16, PAH 17, PAH 5, PAH 10, WRG 1, MAL 13, MAL57, BRG 1, BRG 2, BRG 3, BSMR 175, BSMR 164, BSMR 79, BSMR 26, BWR 254 and BWR 134 were found moderately resistant. Remaining genotypes were showed susceptible reaction against Fusarium wilt disease. Total fifty four genotypes were found entirely resistant to Fusarium wilt .Genotypes found resistant to moderately resistant may either be used as donor parent in breeding program for resistant varieties or if yield level is comparable with existing varieties, it may be released for general cultivation. For an ecofriendly and sustainable management of Fusarium wilt, the effectiveness of botanicals were tested in vitro at 5, 10, 15, and 20% conc. against the pathogen by poisoned food technique. The botanical extract of ashoka leaves, eucalyptus leaves, garlic clove, marigold leaves, tulsi leaves, neem leaves, dhatura leaves, turmeric rhizome,,ginger rhizome, onion bulb and moringa leaves were found effective in inhibition of Fusarium udum.
