Efficacy Evaluation of Abiotic Elicitors for the Management of Black Rot Disease of Cauliflower Incited by Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris

Aims: To find out the effective abiotic elicitor for management of black rot disease of cauliflower. Study Design: Completely randomized block design (Pot experiment in glasshouse condition). Place and Duration of the Study: This experiment was conducted at glasshouse of Division of Plant Pathology, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi during the year 2021-22. Methodology: Different abiotic elicitors were applied by spraying whole plants (45 days old) with the aid of a fine atomizer onto the upper leaf surfaces. Pathogen X. campestris pv. campestris was inoculated after 72 h of elicitor treatment, Control plants were treated with the distilled water. The disease assessment was done at 14 and 21 days after inoculation by using six- point scale and Percent Disease severity was calculated. Results: In case of foliar spray of Salicylic acid before 72 h of inoculation of pathogen, minimum percent diseases severity (25.56) was recorded at the concentration of 3 mM after 21 days of pathogen inoculation. In case of BABA, minimum percent disease severity (18.37) was observed at 800 $\mu g/ml$ concentration. INA helps to reduce the disease severity at 100 uM concentration. ASM was found effective at 350$\mu g/ml$ with 14.07% disease severity and 82.91% disease control efficiency. In case of MeJA, minimum percent disease severity (30.32) was observed at 2mM concentration. Conclusion: Among all the tested abiotic elicitors at different concentration, ASM at the concentration of 350 $\mu g/ml$was found very effective to manage the disease. Black rot caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) is a very important and devastating disease of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) crop resulting into 10–50% yield losses every year. So for the management of black rot disease, five abiotic elicitors viz; salicylic acid(SA-0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 mM), methyl jasmonte (MeJA-0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0mM), $\beta$-Aminobutyric acid (BABA-200, 400, 600, 800 $\mu g/ml$, acibenzolar-S- methyl (ASM-150, 250, 350, 450 $\mu g/ml$) and dichloroisonicotinic acid (INA-50, 100, 150, 200 $\mu$M) were tested to induce systemic resistance against the disease. The experiment was conducted under glasshouse condition at Division of Plant Pathology, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi during the year 2021-22. Foliar application of these abiotic elicitors was done on 45 days old plants of susceptible cv. Pusa Sharad of cauliflower. Results indicated that among all the tested chemical elicitors at different concentration, ASM@350 $\mu g/ml$ was found very effective to manage the disease. It shows 82.91% disease control efficacy with 14.07% disease severity

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Not AvailableOne of the important limiting factors to realising the benefits of modern high- yielding crop varieties is the availability of iron (Fe) in the soil, which often leads to Fe deficiency in food grains. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the role of two siderophore-producing endophytes (Arthrobacter sulfonivorans DS-68 and Enterococcus hirae DS-163) in the biofortification of grains with Fe and enhance yield in four genotypes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in soils with low and high available Fe content. Endophyte inoculation increased the surface area, volume, length of roots and number of root tips by 78.27, 75, 71 and 44%, respectively, relative to the uninoculated control (recommended dose of fertilizers; RDF), across genotypes and soil types. In the low available-Fe soil, inoculation with endophytes increased grain yield twofold relative to the control (RDF), whereas in the high available-Fe soil, the increase was only 1.2-fold across genotypes. In general, endophyte inoculation caused an increase of 1.5-fold and 2.2-fold in iron concentration in grains over the RDF + FeSO4 treatment and uninoculated control (RDF), respectively, across all the genotypes and both soil types. Such siderophore-producing endophytes can be recommended as bioinoculants to mitigate iron deficiencies in the soil and enhance crop productivity.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableXanthomonas campestris pv. campestris is a causative agent of black rot disease of cruciferous crops. A whole-genome sequence of any race of X. campestris pv. campestris has not been reported from India. The isolate Xcc-C7, race 4, of X. campestris pv. campestris was isolated from cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) from Bengaluru, in the southern parts of India. Whole-genome sequence data were generated by the next-generation sequencing-based single-molecule real-time sequencing (SMRT) techniques. This study will improve our knowledge of genomic diversity in X. campestris pv. campestris and pave the way for research on host–pathogen interactions (crucifer crops–X. campestris pv. campestris) to develop resistance in cultivated Brassicaceae crops.Not Availabl

Efficacy of Herbicides in Controlling Wild Onion (Asphodelus tenuifolius L.) in Cumin Grown under Arid Climatic Conditions

A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of different herbicides for controlling wild onion (Asphodelus tenuifolius) in cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) during the rabi seasons (2018–2019 and 2019–2020) at Agricultural Research Station, Agriculture University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The experiment comprised eight herbicidal weed management treatments for wild onion applied to cumin in a three-replication randomized block design. Among the herbicidal weed management treatments, early post-emergence (8 DAS) application of oxyfluorfen 200 g/ha resulted in the lowest weed density and dry matter of Asphodilus tenuifolius, with maximum weed (Asphodilus tenuifolius) control efficiency at 40 days after sowing (DAS) during both experimental years. Likewise, the highest total efficiency of weed control was recorded with the application of oxyfluorfen 200 g/ha at 8 DAS. Oxyflourfen 200 g/ha used early post emergence (8 DAS) reduced the weed index more effectively than the other herbicides. It also recorded the highest number of branches/plant, plant height, umbels/plant, umbellates/umbel, seeds/umbellates, and seed yield. However, application of oxyflourfen @ 200 g/ha 8 DAS–early POE and pendimethalin 38.7 CS 500 g/ha + oxyfluorfen @ 150 g/ha 8 DAS–early POE were statistically similar in terms of plant growth, yield, and yield attributes. The net returns (366.49 USD/ha in 2018–2019 and 175.72 USD/ha in 2019–2020) and B:C ratio (1.70 and 1.33 in 2018–2019 and 2019–2020, respectively) were also superior, with oxyfluorfen 200 g/ha applied early post emergence