Efficacy of Bio-Control Agents and Fungicides in Management of Mulberry Wilt Caused by Fusarium solani

A study was conducted to know the efficacy of potential biocontrol agents and fungicides against mulberry wilt, Fusarium solani. Three antagonists viz., Trichoderma viride., Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis and six fungicides viz., carbendazim, mancozeb, zineb, copper oxy chloride, tebuconazole and pre-mixture fungicide (carbendazim 75% + mancozeb 25%) were tested under in vitro and in pot culture against wilt pathogen. The results showed that Trichoderma and the bacterial bioagents significantly reduced the mycelial growth of the pathogen. Among the fungicides, mixture of carbendazim + mancozeb (0.1 %) completely inhibited the mycelial growth of the pathogen. In pot culture studies, the minimum (10.5 %) incidence of wilt was observed in soil drenching with carbendazim (0.1%) which was on par with soil application of consortia (Seri bed waste+Pf1+Bs4+Tv1+Neem cake) which showed 12.3 per cent incidence as compared to maximum (46.7 %) wilt incidence in control. Similarly, in field studies also recorded the minimum incidence in soil drenching with carbendazim (0.1%) followed by soil application with consortia.