Bioprospecting: An innovative technology for the management of coffee collar rot disease

Abstract

Coffee is an important beverage crop in India. The soil-borne pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani Khun is known to cause collar rot of coffee seedlings in the nursery itself and accounts for 10-25% mortality under conducive environmental conditions. This paper presents the efficacy of various microbial antagonists used in the form of biocapsules for management of coffee collar rot. Among the various antagonists used, Bacillus subtilis resulted in the maximum reduction of collar rot incidence compared to Trichoderma harzianum and Pseudomonas fluorescens.