Dynamics of Sclerotium rolfsii as influenced by different crop rhizosphere and microbial community
This study was carried out with the aim of evaluating pathogenicity of Sclerotium rolfsii to different crops influenced by different crop rhizosphere microbes and their population dynamics. Napier was found to be non-preferred host against S. rolfsii pathogen. Among the seven tested crops in micro-plot study, highest level of induction of sclerotial population was observed in groundnut and cow peas (21.81 and 20.06 numbers of sclerotia /100 g of soil, respectively), whereas, reduction in sclerotial number was observed in napier, maize and sorghum plots. S. rolfsii induced damping off was found to be significantly positively correlated with average sclerotial population irrespective of plant cover even at 1% level of significance (r = 0.985) and among the microbiological parameters, FDA was found to be significantly negatively correlated with damping off disease percentage at 5% level of significance (r = - 0.830). Therefore, Napier may be the potential crop to be incorporated in the sequence of rice/vegetable based cropping system in West Bengal for management of this dreaded pathogen.