Bio Efficacy of Different Fungal Bio-agents on Juvenile Mortality of Root Knot Nematode, Meloidogyne incognita under Laboratory Condition

An investigation was carried out in vitro to evaluate the antagonistic effect of fungal bio-control agents i.e., Trichoderma harzianum, T. viride, Purpureocillium lilacinum, Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana on second stage juvenile (J2) mortality of root-knot nematode (RKN) at 106 and 107 dilutions on juvenile mortality of M. incognita after 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hrs exposure period as compared to untreated check. Among different dilutions, T. viride at 106 dilutions (86.00 per cent) gave maximum per cent juvenile mortality followed by T. harzianum at 106 dilutions (82.00 per cent), P. lilacinum at 106 dilutions (76.00 per cent) and T. viride at 107 dilutions (72.00 per cent) after 120 hrs. M. anisopliae at 107 dilutions (38.00 per cent) was found least effective at different period of exposure.Further studies need to be conducted in pot and field conditions to evaluate the efficacy of these bio-agents against root knot nematode, M. incognita.