Abstract
An experiment was conducted to study the effectiveness of contact, systemic and botanical fungicides, and indigenous biocontrol agents in controlling red root rot disease of tea plants. In general, all tested bioagents, the combination of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Trichoderma atroviride reduced red root disease incidence recorded in two consecutive field experiments. Among the fourteen treatments tested, soil drenching of systemic fungicides was superior but similar to the combination between P. fluorescens and T. atroviride. In contrast, the maximum green leaf yield and plant growth was achieved when soil application of biocontrol agents was carried out. However, the performance of these biocontrol agents under various combinations was on par with systemic fungicides, but superior to botanical fungicides. Correspondingly, the physiological and biochemical parameters were also greatly increased in plants in several treatments when compared to untreated control. The disease increased from 31.5 % to 40.0 % in untreated control plots and those plants were unhealthy in terms of leaf yellowing, stunted growth with heavy flowering, drying of branches and sudden death of bushes. The tea quality parameters were significantly improved in treated plants including total liquor colour, thearubigins, theaflavins, highly polymerized substance and caffeine contents.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to the Chairman and Principal of K.S. Rangasamy College of Technology, Tiruchengode, Tamil Nadu, India for providing necessary facilities and constant encouragement to carry out this study. Dr. P. Mohan kumar, Director, UPASI Tea Research Institute, Valparai is gratefully acknowledged for their excellent support in conducting field trails. Moreover the first author is grateful to Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, New Delhi for awarding Jawaharlal Nehru Doctoral Fellowship.
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Manjukarunambika, K., Ponmurugan, P. & Marimuthu, S. Efficacy of various fungicides and indigenous biocontrol agents against red root rot disease of tea plants. Eur J Plant Pathol 137, 67–78 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-013-0217-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-013-0217-4