EFFECT OF CHEMICALS, BOTANICALS AND BIO-CONTROL AGENT ON THE SUPPRESSION OF Sclerotium rolfsii CAUSES WILT OF SUNFLOWER. Sclerotium rolfsii CAUSES WILT OF SUNFLOWER

The present investigation was conducted during 2017 at Plant Disease Clinic (PDC), Department of Plant Pathology, Patuakhali Science and Technology University to evaluate the efficacy of chemicals, botanicals and bio-control agent on the suppression of Sclerotium rolfsii causes wilt of sunflower. The antifungal activity of four fungicides viz., M-Cop 50-WP, M-Hitar 50-WP, Rye 32.5-SC and Siconazol 25-SC and five plant extracts viz., Neem, Garlic, Zinger, Biskathali and Datura were evaluated against Sclerotium rolfsii isolated from infected sunflower plants. The four different concentrations of H2O2 viz., 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 3% H2O2 and two formulations of Trichoderma sp. Viz., BAU-Biofungicide and commercially available Trichoderma-suspension were also assessed against Sclerotium rolfsii. The results revealed that all the chemicals, plant extracts and bio-control agent significantly inhibited the mycelial growth of Sclerotium rolfsii with varying degree in comparison with control. Among the fungicides, Rye 32.5-SC (100%) and Siconazol 25-SC (100%) showed the best performance in controlling the mycelial growth of Sclerotium rolfsii. Among the plant extracts, both Garlic (52.96%) and Zinger (52.96%) significantly inhibited the mycelial growth of Sclerotium rolfsii. Among the four concentrations of hydrogen peroxide treated against Sclerotium rolfsii, 3% H2O2 (74.07%) showed the maximum inhibition of mycelial growth followed by 2% H2O2 (68.52%). In case of bio-control agent, Trichoderma-suspension showed the highest (74.44%) inhibition of mycelial growth of Sclerotium rolfsii followed by BAU-Biofungicide (70.36%).