Effect of the combination of biological, chemical control and agronomic technique in integrated management pea root rot and its productivity

www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN Effect of the combination of biological, chemical control and agronomic technique in integrated management pea root rot and its productivity Nargis Nazir1, Zaffar Afroz Badri2, Nazir Ahmad Bhat3, Farooq Ahmad Bhat1, Phalisteen Sultan4, Tashooq Ahmad Bhat5*, Mohd Ashraf Rather6 & Aafreen Sakina4 Root rot of pea caused by Fusarium spp. is one of the important diseases of pea (Pisum sativum L.). The causal fungus of the disease isolated from naturally infected pea plants was identified as Fusarium solani f. sp. pisi (Jones). Evaluation of four bio agents and nine fungicides was done in vitro against Fusarium solani. Trichoderma harzianum was the most effective bio agent in inhibiting the mycelial growth of F. solani by (82.62%). Carbendazim 50 WP was the most effective fungicide in inhibiting the mycelial growth of F. solani by (91.06%). Carbendazim at the rate of 0.1% and T. harzianum at concentration of 109 cfu when used as seed treatment under field conditions were evaluated along with three planting techniques v.i.z, raised beds, ridges and flat beds. It was found that Carbendazim at the rate of 0.1% when given as seed treatment in raised beds exhibited the lowest disease incidence (10.97%), intensity (2.89%) and the maximum pod yield (89.63 q ha−1) as compared to control. Garden pea (Pisum sativum L.) is an important cool season annual legume crop whose origin can be traced back to the Middle East. The crop is rich source of vitamins and minerals like Ca and Mg. It also has a high quantity of fiber that improves bowel health. Pea also contains Vitamin B complex (Niacin) that helps in the reduction of triglycerides, thereby resulting in less cholesterol. Further different compounds present in pea like coumestrol, pisum saponins I & II and phenolic acids help in the prevention of stomach cancer. India is the largest producer of pea in the world with a production & productivity of 48.11 lakh tones and 9.0 t ha−1 respectively1. In India, Uttar Pradesh stands at the no. 1 in production of pea. Despite its high nutritional value and remarkable production, the yield of the crop gets drastically constrained due to certain diseases like root rot, powdery mildew, fusarium wilt etc. Root rot of pea caused by Fusarium solani is often considered a major constraint in pea production worldwide2. It causes severe damage at all stages of crop growth and upto 97 per cent yield losses were reported by El-Saadony et al.3. In India, root rot of pea was first reported by Sukapura et al.4 from Pune. The disease has also been reported from Kashmir valley with an incidence ranging from 14.8 to 64.7 per c ent5. Reddish brown streaks of the roots near the cotyledon attachment point is among the first signs of fusarium root rot. As the streaks coalesce, they form a black lesion that encircles the roots and epicotyls. The roots of infected plants become dark and weak as the root rot progresses, and they commonly disintegrate when they are removed from the soil. Infected populations in a crop may appear healthy for a short time before unexpectedly collapsing, especially if hot, dry weather comes during pod filling, when pea plants are especially vulnerable to moisture stress6. Above ground symptoms of plant infected by Fusarium solani f. sp. pisi can be characterized by yellowing of leaves, starting at the base of the plant which later on progresses to the top of the plant7. Wilting or death of infected plants is not seen, but the growth of the infected plant can be drastically stunted. 1 Division of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, SKUAST- K, Wadura, Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir 193201, India. 2Krishi Vigyan Kendra Malangpora, Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir 192301, India. 3Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops, Khudwani, Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir 192101, India. 4CSIR-IIIM, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir 190005, India. 5Division of Food Science and Technology, SKUAST-K, Shalimar 190025, India. 6Division of Fish Genetics and Biotechnology, Faculty of Fisheries, SKUAST-K, Rangil, Ganderbal 191201, India. *email: Scientific Reports | (2022) 12:11348 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15580-1 1 Vol.:(0123456789) www.nature.com/scientificreports/ Root rot of pea is a serious threat to profitable cultivation of pea, efforts have been made worldwide to manage the disease through chemicals8, bio agents9 and cultural interventions10. Available literature, however, does not reveal any work conducted on the effect of the above-mentioned management practices in combination. Therefore, looking into the importance of the crop and the disease, the present investigation was taken up to develop a suitable and sustainable strategy to control this disease and reduce the yield losses through an integrated approach. Materials and methods Raw material. The raw material was procured from the registered centers of Faculty of Agriculture Wadura, SKUAST-K, India & all the methods used in this work are in compliance with institutional guidelines. All chemicals used for analysis were obtained from Sigma Aldrich. Symptomatology. Symptomatology was carried out on pea plants showing typical symptoms of root rot (Thoroughly identified by Division of Plant Pathology SKUAST-K). The diseased plants showing above ground symptoms in the field during the course of survey were bought to the laboratory. The roots were washed using tap water before making observations for root rot symptoms. Symptomatic plants were maintained under natural conditions in field to record periodic symptom development vis-à-vis root colour, tissue disintegration and its effect on aerial parts. Isolation of pathogen. The tissue bit transfer approach was used to isolate the causative a gent11. With a sharp sterilised blade, the symptomatic diseased roots were sliced into little bits (2–3 mm) such that each sick bit contained a portion of healthy tissue. These parts were surface sterilised for 30 s with a 0.1% mercuric chloride solution, then rinsed three times with distilled sterilised water to eliminate any remaining mercuric chloride solution. The bits were blotter dried before being aseptically transferred to Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) media in sterile Petri-plates and incubated at 25 ± 1 °C and examined periodically the color of mycelium or colony. Purification of pathogen. To achieve axenic culture of the pathogen, the single spore or hyphal tip approach described by Xing et al.12 was used. Fungal growth observed on diseased tissue bits was aseptically transferred to Petri plates containing PDA and incubated at 25 ± 1 °C for 7 days. The sub cultured plates were then observed for sporulation. Dilute spore suspension in sterile distilled water, prepared out of a sporulating colony was poured on Petri plates containing water agar and incubated for 1 day at 25 ± 1 °C. These water agar plates were then observed in inverted position under microscope and the isolated germinated spores were transferred to fresh (...truncated)