Biological management of damping-off and root rot of cauliflower in mid hills of North Western Himalayas of India

Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis) is an important and popular vegetable cash crop worldwide including North Western Himalayas (NWH) of India. Its production is adversely affected by damping off and root rot diseases. Effect of different bioagents, organic amendments and biofumigants were tested against damping off and root rot of cauliflower. The results showed that seed treatment and soil drenching with Trichoderma harzianum isolates (T11+T28) and Pseudomonas fluorescence isolate 30 resulted in highest germination and lower damping off incidence. Under in vitro studies, extracts of Parthenium hysterophorus, Ageratum conyzoides and Lantana camara showed significantly higher antifungal activity against Pythium aphanidermatum and Rhizoctonia solani. Similarly, under field studies, soil incorporation of A. conyzoides, L. camara and P. hysterophorus were found to reduce root rot incidence with high curd yield. In another set of field experiment, soil biofumigation of toria (Brassica rapa var. toria) was found to lower root rot incidence followed by broccoli (B. oleracea var. italica) and radish (Raphanus sativus). The generated information using application of bioformulation and botanicals could help to develop sustainable integrated disease management plan for soil borne diseases.. KEYWORDS :Bioagents, biofumigation, cauliflower, damping-off, organic amendments, Pseudomonas fluorescence, root rot, Trichoderma harzianum