EFFICACY OF BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS AND RHIZOBIUM MELILOTI WITH NURSERY FERTILIZERS IN THE CONTROL OF ROOT INFECTING FUNGI ON MUNG BEAN AND OKRA PLANTS

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt10) and Rhizobium meliloti (R5) with and without locally available nursery fertilizers viz., flourish, frutan, NPK, urea and fish meal were used to study their effect on the growth and suppression of soil borne root infecting fungi viz., Macrophomina phaseolina, Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium spp., on mung bean and okra plants. Nursery fertilizers were applied in the soil @ 0.01% w/w whereas fish meal @ 0.1% v/w. B. thuringiensis and R. meliloti applied as seed dressing and soil drenching after 1 week of amendment showed a significant increase in seed germination, shoot length, shoot weight, root length, root weight and root nodulation providing better plant growth with a significant decrease in infection by root infecting fungi. Use of NPK was found to increase the efficacy of B. thuringiensis and R. meliloti in the control of root infecting fungi and growth of mung bean and okra plants.

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