Field efficacy of formulation of fungal bioagents against bacterial leaf blight of rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Uyeda and Ishiyama) Dowson
In the present study, Trichoderma harzianum, T. hamatum, T. virens and three isolates of Trichoderma spp. were evaluated for their comparative efficacy against bacterial leaf blight of rice, under field conditions. All the bioagent formulations were significantly effective in reducing disease severity over check during Kharif season 2006 and 2007. T. harzianum was found to be most effective and resulted 48.26 and 59.22 % reduction in disease severity during Kharif season 2006 and 2007, respectively. Maximum increase in grain yield (16.21%) was recorded with T. harzianum followed by isolate 40 (14.58%), during Kharif season 2006. Whereas during Kharif season 2007, maximum increase in grain yield (18.95%) was recorded with T. harzianum which is followed by T. virens (14.65%) and isolate 40 (12.57 %). Present study revealed that T. harzianum (isolated from rice phylloplane) was found to be most effective in reducing disease severity and increasing grain yield as compared to other isolates obtained from different sources.