An Innovative Technique for Artificial Inoculation of Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn for Field Experiments

Rhizoctonia solani is one of the most important soil borne plant pathogenic fungus of many agricultural and horticultural crops worldwide. The detailed analysis of sheath blight resistance at genetic, molecular, biochemical and functional levels is facilitated by development of effective and uniform inoculation techniques. The efficiency of R. solani infection plays a pivotal role in accurate evaluation of disease and screening of resistant cultivars. In the present study, an innovative technique for artificial inoculation of R. solani in rice was evaluated under field conditions using maize sand meal as inoculum type. Development of sheath blight disease symptoms was found to be effective and uniform in inoculated plots.