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 biocontrol agent Trichoderma harzianum Th4d 1.5% WP formulation with shelf life of more than 18 months and production process for improved yield of Trichoderma biomass( patented process, Indian patent no.316651)). The process involves the multiplication of Trichoderma harzianum Th4d in modified molasses-soya medium by biphasic method, harvesting desiccation tolerant viable propagules of 9.47 log CFU/g. Further this process aided in development of Trichoderma harzianum Th4d wettable powder formulation where dry conidial spores harvested through modified fermentation production process were aseptically mixed with pre sterilized carrier and adjuvants. The formulation will have a minimum of 2 x 106 cfu/gm even at 18th month after storage in room temperature. The technology has been validated against Phytophthora seedling blight, Macrophomina root rot and Fusarium wilt of safflower and castor, Aspergillus root rot in groundnut. The formulation can be used for seed treatment @10g/kg. Technology validated over 8 years in multi-location field trials conducted under AICRP on Castor and Safflower revealed its effectiveness against Phytophthora seedling blight, Macrophomina root rot and Fusarium wilt diseases.