Front line demonstration of technological interventions for collar rot and stem rot management in groundnut in southern telangana zone

AIMS: Groundnut is an important legume oilseed crop grown in India. It is known as the “King of Oilseeds” in India. Groundnut cultivation is often subjected to significant yield losses annually due to biotic and abiotic stresses. Stem rot and collar rot are major diseases in groundnut, causing significant yield losses. Stem rot, caused by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc, and Collar rot, caused by Aspergillus niger, are both soil-borne pathogens that survive in the soil for many years. These are the major constraints to groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) production in India. Stem rot causes a yield loss of about 25 – 80 %. Collar rot is a seed and soil-borne disease that affects groundnut in tropical and subtropical climates. It causes significant yield losses and deteriorates kernel quality. Therefore, to minimise the yield losses due to the incidence of collar rot and stem rot diseases in Groundnut, the present study was conducted to identify the strategy of disease management through the adoption of technological interventions in Groundnut crop. This will be useful to enhance the groundnut area in Telangana.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted during the rabi seasons of 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 at farmers’ fields of Southern Telangana Zone by Krishi Vigyana Kendra, Kampasagar, Nalgonda district, Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, Telangana, India.
Methodology: A total of 30 demonstrations(10 demonstrations per year) were conducted in farmers’ fields under natural epiphytotic field conditions of Nalgonda district during 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 as a front-line demonstration (Demo plot). The groundnut fields without the application of technological interventions were taken as the Farmers’ Practice (Control plot). Disease estimation in the demo plot and control plot was done as per the standard methodology to assess the Performance.
Result: The result of study revealed that, with the following of technological interventions i.e., Seed treatment with tebuconazole @ 1g/kg seed, Soil treatment with Trichoderma harzinaum developed by mixing 180 kg FYM + 20 kg neem cake + 4 kg Trichoderma harzinaum and Soil drenching with tebuconazole @ 1ml/l around the infected plants in Demo plot the yields were enhanced (19.9%) compared with existing farmers practice. Recorded minimum collar rot incidence (10.08%), stem rot incidence (11.91%), and highest pod yield (3664 kg/ha). Significantly, demonstrations were superior as compared to existing farmers’ practice, where maximum collar rot incidence (28.24%) and stem rot incidence(23.43%) minimum pod yield (30.53 kg/ha) were recorded. As regards BCR, the maximum BCR ratio (3.03) was recorded in demonstrations.
Conclusion: Overall, the results revealed the scope of integrating the bio agents with fungicides in managing the collar rot and stem rot diseases in groundnut.