Biological management of stem rot of clusterbean under <i>in vitro </i>and <i>in vivo </i>conditions

Trichoderma harzianum and T. viride demonstrated significant inhibition of Sclerotium rolfsii mycelial growth, with 63.62 and 57.12 per cent inhibition, respectively. In contrast, bacterial bio-agents Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis showed lower efficacy (42.31 and 38.56% inhibition, respectively). Garlic extract demonstrated the highest efficacy across all concentrations, with 66.67, 68.61 and 75.19 per cent inhibition at 5, 10 and 15% concentrations, respectively. Panchgavya, a cow product, showed promising results, with 34.81, 53.06, and 74.96 per cent inhibition at 5, 10, and 15% concentrations, respectively. Treatment T3 [Seed treatment with (T. harzianum + P. fluorescens) @ (5 g + 5 g) kg-1 + Soil application of (T. harzianum + P. fluorescens) @ (5 kg + 5 kg) ha-1] consistently emerged as the most effective, showing high disease control and low incidence rates with highest seed and straw yield. Combinations of bio-agents and bio-products exhibited superior disease control, with cow urine and cow dung-based treatments showing promise for organic disease management in clusterbean cultivation. Treatment T10 [Seed treatment with cow dung + Foliar application of Buttermilk] was least effective and consistently yielded the minimum seed and straw across all treatments.