Background:
Plant diseases inflicts enormous seed yield losses in oilseed crops. Continuous dependence on chemical protectants may have harmful impacts on ecosystems sustainability. Driven by the need for sustainable and environmentally friendly farming practices and safer and healthier food, the demand for microbial inoculants in crop management is ever-increasing. Biological control of crop pests using microbes is a well-known, safer with proven benefits of improving yield, quality, and stress resistance of agricultural crops and considered as a viable alternative to many harmful chemical pesticides.:
Technology Details:
The technology offered is the Suspension Concentrate (SC) formulation of Trichoderma harzianum Th4d (NAIMCC –F- 02188) which is first of its kind in the country with shelf life of more than 24 months and production process for improved yield of Trichoderma biomass (patented process, Indian patent no.316651). Trichoderma formulation has longer shelf life (more than 24 months), dosage required is very low (1 or 2ml/kg seed/L water), the strain is effective against many plant diseases (broad host range), symbiotic root colonizer, induces defense response in plants against pathogen and promotes plant growth. The SC formulation will have a minimum of 2 x 106 cfu/ml even at 18th month after storage in room temperature, rot and Fusarium wilt of safflower and castor, Botryotinia gray mold of castor and Alternariaster leaf blight and powdery mildew of sunflower. The formulations can be used for seed treatment @ 1ml/kg seed or 500 ml in 500 litre of water/ha and foliar spray.