Biocontrol of Damping off in Withania Somnifera (L) Dunal

Abstract

Present work was aimed to find the effect of biocontrol agents on the Damping off in Withania Somnifera which becomes victim of many soil borne fungi. Damping off a major disease at seedling stage to curb various conventional pesticides was used which carried negative impact. During study seeds were treated first with Azotobacter that showed moderate germination followed by combined treatment of Azotobacter and trichoderma which showed very high. Also it was found that disease frequency was high in replicas of control because no biocontrol / biofertilizer were applied. Trichoderma alone had moderate effect on Damping off. Finally, Azotobacter and trichoderma synergistically showed best results against the disease as former helped in growth parameters while later fights against causative pathogen.