Effectiveness Measurement of Bio-agents and Botanicals against Pyricularia oryzae

Rice is an important crop, widely affected by blast; a devastating disease incited by Pyricularia oryzae. Rice blast caused by P. oryzae Cave continues to be a major constraint in rice production. Since, the existing chemical control measures being costly and may favor development of resistance in pathogens, the potential alternative methods have been explored in the present studies. The biological method; an ecofriendly and economic approach seems to be an alternative to chemotherapy in managing virulent strains like P. oryzae causing blast of rice. Biocontrol agents Trichoderma viride, T. harzianum, Pseudomonas fluorescens and botanicals; neem oil and neem oil + neem leaf extract (Azadirachta indica) were evaluated for their efficacy against blast in Pusa Basmati 1121; a high yielding variety of rice. Carbendazim was used for standard check fungicides for comparison. The result concludes that T. viride is best bio-control (24.53%) which was followed by T. harzianum (23.08%), neem oil (26.20%) and neem oil + neem leaf extract (24.15%) inhibit the blast respectively while P. fluorescens inhibit the blast (21.99%) as compared to treated and untreated control (18.57% and 34.15 %, respectively)