MANAGEMENT OF BACTERIAL WILT OF BRINJAL BY P. fluorescens BASED BIOFORMULATION

An experiment was conducted in the laboratory and farm of the Department of Biotechnology, Gauhati University to explore the potentiality of an indigenous strain of Pseudomonas fluorescens as a bio-control agent in the management of bacterial wilt disease of brinjal under local conditions. Different organic materials were evaluated for their potential as substrate carriers in the formulation of P. fluorescens based biopesticide. Vermicompost and farmyard manure were found to support significantly longer shelf life of the biocontrol bacteria. Carboxy methyl cellulose and substrate carrier based formulations of P. fluorescens were applied by different methods in pot and field experiments to study their effectiveness in the control of bacterial wilt of brinjal. CVPf formulation and seed + root + soil method of application performed significantly better than others providing 83.33% control of bacterial wilt of brinjal in field experiment conducted by Completely Randomized Block Design. CVPf treated brinjal plants also recorded significantly higher yield and yield attributes than other formulation treated brinjal crops. Effective management of bacterial wilt of brinjal and improvement of yield and yield attributes by the P. fluorescens based organic formulation under local conditions signifies its potentiality and scope as a PGPR.