Management of Fusarium root rot of coriander with chemical and bio‐control agents

Coriander is considered as a leaf and seed spice, most predominately used as an ingredient in various dishes across the world. An in vitro assay was conducted with four bio-control agents viz., Trichoderma viride (ACT1), T. harzianum (ACT3), T. reesei (ACT2) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (APF4), to examine the bio-efficacy against Fusarium solani (KFS17), an incitant of root rot disease of coriander. Amid the bio-control agents tested T. harzianum significantly performed its best inhibitory action against F. solani. Out of the six fungicides and their combinations employed in vitro mycelial growth inhibition study, carbendazim + mancozeb (SAAF) at all the concentrations right from the lowest concentration of 0.1 % inhibited the growth of F. solani (100 %) at 7 days after inoculation. Further, a field experiment was investigated using competent antagonist and effective fungicide resulted from the in vitro assays in combination with organic manure which was applied in direct and varied combinations in a randomized block design. Results signified that soil application of neem cake @ 250 kg/ha in combination with T. harzianum (ACT3) @ 5 kg/ha noticed the lowest root rot incidence (9.8 %) with the lowest AUDPC value (610), significant yield improvement by 600 kg/ha and highest cost-benefit ratio of 1:2.7 in coriander cv. ‘Sudha’ over control.