Bio-rational management of Alternaria leaf spot of mustard using beneficial bacteria

Abstract

Alternaria leaf spot caused by Alternaria brassicae is a devastating disease of mustard responsible for huge yield loss of mustard and other Brassicae crops. The present study was aimed to use previously isolated and identified beneficial bacteria viz. Bacillus cereus HSTUB 17, Serrartia marcescens HSTUB 8, and Enterobacter tabaci HSTUB 20 for the eco-friendly management of Alternaria leaf spot of mustard in field condition. Among the selected bacteria, the combined appliecation of B. cereus HSTUB 17 and E. tabaci HSTUB 20 exhibited the highest reduction of Alternaria leaf spot incidence (82.35 and 79.98%) and Alternaria leaf spot severity (81.50 and 80.95%) in BARI shorisha 14 and BARI shorisha 18 over control at 90 days after sowing (DAS), respectively. The highest plant height (140.67 and 68.33 cm), number of leaves per plant (42.67 and 40.00), leaf length (21.00 and 10.67 cm), leaf width (17.00 and 8.00 cm), total number of flowers per plant (53.00 and 24.00), number of pods per plant (286.00 and 154.67 ), shoot length (142 and 70.33 cm), root length (16.67 and 9.00 cm), shoot weight (35.00 and 3.65 g), root weight (9.42 and 0.51 g), pod length (7.67 and 6.67 cm), pod weight (0.34 and 0.28 g), seed weight g/1000 seeds (2.46 and 2.67 g), germination (96 and 96 %) were obtained by the combined application of B. cereus HSTUB 17 and E. tabaci HSTUB 20 in both BARI shorisha 14 and BARI shorisha 18, respectively. The findings of the study revealed the potentiality of B. cereus HSTUB 17 and E.tabci HSTUB 20 for sustainable eco-friendly management of Alternaria leaf spot diseae of mustard along with the ehnahced production.