Seed biopriming with different bioagents to minimize collar rot disease of groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.)

The present studies investigate the effectiveness of various bioagents, namely Trichoderma viride, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Trichoderma harzenium and Bacillus subtilis in promoting the growth, productivity and minimize the collar rot disease incidence in groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) under in vitro and controlled pot conditions (upto 60 per cent disease control). Groundnut is a globally important oilseed crop known for its nutritional value and oil content. However, the sustainable production of groundnuts faces increasing challenges due to biotic and abiotic stress factors. Among the biotic diseases, collar rot disease of groundnut caused by Aspergillus niger is more extensive in kharif season and causes more damage in sandy loam soils. Bioagents like Trichoderma harzenium, Trichoderma viride, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis are very helpful in increasing plant growth and controlling collar rot disease in groundnut. This study aims to elucidate the physiological mechanism underlying these interactions and provide practical insights into the application of this environmentally friendly approach for sustainable groundnut cultivation. Under pot condition treatment integration of seed treatment with Trichoderma viride and enriched vermicompost significantly shows minimum per cent disease incidence 6% and maximum plant vigour (2000) obtained from the treatment integration of Seed treatment with Trichoderma harzianum and enriched Vermicompost. Our finding reveals that the application of integration of seed treatment with Trichoderma viride and enriched vermicompost significantly shows 57.14% disease control under pot conditions, outperformed the other bioagents in sustainable management of collar rot disease of groundnut and Pseudomonas fluorescens outperformed other bioagents in enhancement of growth of plant due to their PGPR activity.