Management of groundnut stem and root rot complex by using Trichoderma harzianum Th3 at field level

Abstract

Stem and root rot complex disease of groundnut is a devastating disease caused by Sclerotium rolfsii and Macrophomina phaseolina. To avoid extensive use of pesticides, biological formulation developed from Trichoderma harzianum (Th3) was used as an environment friendly option. Seed treatment, soil application and drenching with T. harzianum Th3 showed minimum disease incidence of 21.6% in Banswara and 12.6% in Jhabua districts. Thus it reduces the disease incidence by 66.3 to 78.1% as compared to control. The application of T. harzianum Th3 at field level increased number of pods per plant and shelling percentage and thereby produced maximum yield of 3.37 and 3.6 t/ha in Banswara and Jhabua district, respectively. The application of the biological formulation was found remunerative and generated net return per hectare of ` 94313 and ` 102300 in Banswara and Jhabua districts, respectively.