Evaluation of different fungal and bacterial Bioagents against Rhizoctonia solani causing sheath blight of rice

Sheath blight of rice caused by Rhizoctoina solani Kuhn [Thanetephorus cucumeris (Frank) Donk] is at present one of the most serious threat for Basmati rice production. The disease is soil borne and remains, mainly confined to the leaf sheath but it also attacks all the aerial plant parts. In present investigation, twelve different bio-agents were evaluated for their efficacy against R. solani in vitro. The bioagent, Aspergillus niger resulted in highest inhibition of R. solani through dual culture technique (91.85%) which was significantly different from the percent inhibition recorded due to any other bioagents. The next most effective bioagent found during this experiment was Ampelomyces quisqualis (65.23%). Bioagents also tested against pathogen through inverted plate technique. In this highest percent inhibition due to antifungal volatile compound was recorded with bioagent T. atroviride (83.38%) followed by T. viride (77.61%), T. harzianum (75.17%), T. longibrachiatum (70.96%) and Aspergillus niger (70.29%).