Development of Potential Trichoderma Based Formulation for Management of Collar Rot Disease of Tomato Caused by Sclerotium Rolfsii

Abstract

newline Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L; Synonym: Lycopersicum esculentum Mill.) is one of the most widely cultivated vegetable crop all over the globe. Tomato is the world s most highly consumed vegetable due to its status as a basic ingredient in a large variety of raw, cooked or processed foods. Tomato is the 7th most important crop after maize, rice, wheat, potatoes, soybeans and cassava and 2nd vegetable crops in the world after potato. China is the leading producer of tomatoes and accounted for 31% of the total tomato production. India and United States followed with the second and third highest production of tomato in the world. Tomato is known to be affected by a number of biotic and abiotic factors which limits its growth and yield. Collar rot caused by S. rolfsii is one of the major constraint in tomato production causing an annual loss of 20 to 30%. The pathogen is known to incite different types of diseases viz., seedling blight, root rot, stem blight, fruit rot, charcoal rot, wilt, stalk rot and seedling decay in different crop plants. Among the abiotic stresses, high temperature stress is emerges as significant yield-limiting factor in tomato production. Due to global warming, a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth s atmosphere has reported by Inter-governmental panel on climatic change (IPCC). Its play a negative role in the field of agriculture by decreasing crop yields. This decrease in crop yield is because of the shortened life cycle and hastened senescence due to high-temperature stress. High day and night temperatures as well as high soil and air temperatures hamper plant growth and cause considerable pre- and post-harvest losses. High temperature can also affect the pollen and anther development which ultimately decreased fruit set in tomato