Development of seed coating formulation using consortium of Bacillus subtilis OTPB1 and Trichoderma harzianum OTPB3 for plant growth promotion and induction of systemic resistance in field and horticultural crops

• Published in: Indian phytopathology Vol. 68; no. 1; pp. 25 - 31
• Main Authors: Kumar, S P Mohan, Chowdappa, P, Krishna, V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Alternaria solani; Bacillus subtilis; Brassica; Curcuma longa; Daucus; Lycopersicon esculentum; Momordica charantia; Phytophthora infestans; Solanum tuberosum
• ISSN: 0367-973X; 2248-9800

An experiment was conducted to develop seed-coating formulation using microbial consortium of Bacillus subtilis OTPB1 and Trichoderma harzianum OTPB3. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cv. Arka vikas was used as the model crop to study the efficacy of formulation on growth promotion and induction of systemic resistance. The microbial consortium led to a significant increase (p < 0.01) in all growth parameters of tomato seedlings compared to stand alone treatments of B. subtilis OTPB1 and T. harzianum (OTPB3) and the control. Defence related enzymes such as polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase activities were significantly (P<0.01) higher by 56.7, 69.7 and 55.5%, respectively in tomato seedlings treated with formulation compared to other treatments and the control. The lesion size caused by Alternaria solani and Phytophthora infestans on intact tomato leaves were significantly reduced by 78.7 and 82.1%, respectively in microbial consortium formulation treated seedlings. When microbial consortium formulation evaluated against vegetable crops (brinjal, beans, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, cabbage, chilli, carrot, cauliflower, pumpkin, ridged gourd), fruit crop (papaya in plastic trays in glasshouse), tuber crops (potato), ginger and turmeric, significant increase in growth parameters under greenhouse conditions and growth and yield parameters under field conditions were recorded. This study, therefore, assumes significance in production of disease-free quality vegetable transplants and enhancement of yield in potato, ginger and turmeric crops.