Author(s): Z. Salma, S. S. Sindhu and V. P. Ahlawat

Abstract: Gladiolus is an important commercial flower crop fetching high returns in national and international markets. Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. gladioli is a serious disease which has become a limiting factor in its production. With an objective to have a biological control over this biotic stress, an experiment was conducted during 2012 and 2013 at Department of Microbiology, CCSHAU, Hisar to evaluate certain rhizobacterial strains for suppression of Fusarium wilt disease in gladiolus. Twenty five rhizobacterial strains were tested under dual technique for antifungal activity against fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. gladioli. Two Pseudomonas strains HWM13and HCS2 as well as two Bacillus strains RSD8 and NNY19 caused maximum inhibition of the pathogen. Under pot house conditions, single inoculation of HCS2 showed increased plant height (66.7 cm) and superior floral attributes over control. Coinoculation of HCS2 with pathogen resulted in complete suppression of disease with no symptoms of wilting. Thus, Pseudomonas strain HCS2 could be further tested under field conditions for the suppression of Fusarium wilt in gladiolus...

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