Research article ROOTONIC WITH BIO-ZINC TO ACCELERATE PENNISETUM GLAUCUM SEED GERMINATION AND PLANT GROWTH

Currently, commercializing the Piriformospora indica fungal formulation using magnesium sulphite as a carrier with the registered trade name "Rootonic". It enhances the plant growth, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and also increases the accessibility of nutrients to plants. Biotic stress and nutritional deficiency i.e. zinc in soil are the two important factor for the deteriotion of grain quality. To consider these two problems, the study was done to check the effect of combination of Rootonic and Bio-Zinc on diseases causing isolate Fusarium solani in P. glaucum. Fusarium species not only reduces the quality but also affect the quantity and yield of grains in P. glaucum. Seeds were treated with F. solani and Rootonic at the time of sowing under green house condition. Seed germination and morphological parameters significantly increased in the treatment having combination of both Rootonic as well as Bio-Zinc. Rootonic or Bio-Zinc alone although promotes the plant growth but failed to suppress the pathogenicity caused by F. solani. These results suggest that novel combination of Rootonic and Bio- Zinc suppress the pathogenicity considerably caused by F. solani and at the same time promote the plant growth and had significant impact on chlorophyll, phenol and flavonoid content of P. glaucum. Keywords: Antioxidant, Bio-Zinc (Zinc gluconate), Fusarium solani (F. solani), Pennisetum glaucum (P. glaucum), Piriformospora indica (P. indica), Rootonic