Comparative performance of fungicides and bio-control agents for management of collar rot in chickpea

Collar rot disease in chickpea, caused by Sclerotium rolfsii, is an important, fast-spreading soil-borne pathogen. The seed treatment is an important practice for disease control by preventing the pathogen from infecting seeds and young seedlings. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the comparative performance of fungicides and bio-agents as a seed treatment for the management of collar rot during two consecutive years, 2019-21. A total of eight treatments were studied. Among those, seed treatment with Carboxin 37.5% + Thiram 37.5% DS @ 1.5 g/kg of seed + Trichoderma formulation (CPRT-10) @ 10 g/kg of seed showed 69.8% disease control which was on par with vitavax power @ 1.5 g/kg of seed+ Trichoderma formulation (CPRT-8) @ 10 g/kg of seed (65.7%). Similarly, the maximum seed yield (2231 kg/ha) was recorded in Carboxin 37.5% + Thiram 37.5% DS @ 1.5 g/kg of seed + Trichoderma formulation (CPRT-10) @ 10 g/kg of seed followed by vitavax power @ 1.5 g/kg of seed+ Trichoderma formulation (CPRT-8) @ 10 g/kg of seed (2165 kg/ha). Hence, it was concluded that using a combination of a bio-control agent (Trichoderma) with a fungicide for seed treatment was effective in the management of collar rot in chickpea.