ISOLATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF PYTHIUM APHANIDERMATUM CAUSING SOFT ROT OF GINGER
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/jpds.2025.20.2.33Keywords:
Biological control, Ginger, Pythium, Soft rot, TrichodermaAbstract
Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.), an important spice crop cultivated extensively in tropical and subtropical regions, is severely affected by soft rot disease caused by Pythium aphanidermatum. The present study was undertaken to isolate and identify the causal organism from infected ginger rhizomes collected from farmers’ fields and to evaluate the efficacy of different biocontrol agents against the pathogen under in vitro conditions. The pathogen was successfully isolated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and identified based on its cultural and microscopic characteristics. Pathogenicity of P. aphanidermatum was confirmed using rhizome inoculation methods, including rhizome dip, rhizome injection and soil inoculation techniques. Eight biocontrol agents comprising six fungal agents, namely Trichoderma asperellum, Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma virens, Aspergillus niger, Metarhizium anisopliae and Paecilomyces lilacinus, and two bacterial agents, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens, were evaluated against the pathogen using the dual culture technique. Among the tested biocontrol agents, Trichoderma asperellum was found to be the most effective, recording 70.36% inhibition of mycelial growth of P. aphanidermatum. The results indicate that fungal biocontrol agents, particularly Trichoderma asperellum, can serve as eco-friendly and sustainable alternatives to chemical fungicides for the management of soft rot disease of ginger.References
Al-Sheikh, H., 2010. Two pathogenic species of Pythium, Pythium aphanidermatum and Pythium diclinum, from a wheat field. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 17: 347–352.
Apet, K. T., A. G. Patil, R. C. Agale and A. P. Sasane, 2018. Efficacy of fungicides and bio-fungicides against Pythium aphanidermatum (Edson) Fitzp. causing rhizome rot of ginger. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 6: 1910–1917.
Bhai, S. R., V. K. Kishore, A. Kumar, M. E. Anandaraj and J. Santhosh, 2005. Screening of rhizobacterial isolates against soft rot disease of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.). Journal of Spices and Aromatic Crops, 14(2): 130–136.
Dennis, C. and J. Webster, 1971. Antagonistic properties of species groups of Trichoderma II. Production of volatile antibiotics. Transactions of the British Mycological Society, 57: 41–48.
Dohroo, N. P., 2005. Diseases of ginger. In: The genus Zingiber. P. N. Rabhindran and K. Nirmal Babu (Eds.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, pp. 305–340.
Dohroo, N. P. and M. Gupta, 2014. Effect of bioagents on management of rhizome diseases, plant growth parameters and nematode population in ginger. Agricultural Science Digest, 34(1): 41–44.
Kadam, R. V., G. P. Jagtap and D. Utpal, 2015. Integrated management of rhizome rot in ginger caused by Pythium aphanidermatum. Journal of Plant Disease Sciences, 10(1): 39–43.
Khatso, K. and A. Tiameren, 2013. Biocontrol of rhizome rot disease of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.). International Journal of Bio-resource and Stress Management, 4(2): 317–322.
Nair, K. P., 2013. The agronomy and economy of turmeric and ginger: The invaluable medicinal spice crops. Springer, pp. 221–513.
Parveen, T. and K. Sharma, 2015. Pythium diseases: Control and management strategies. International Journal of Plant, Animal and Environmental Sciences, 5(1): 244–257.
Rajalakshmi, J., D. Durgadevi, S. Harish and T. Raguchander, 2016. Morphological and molecular characterization of Pythium aphanidermatum, the incitant of rhizome rot in turmeric. International Journal of Environment, Ecology, Family and Urban Studies, 6(4): 1–8.
Sagar, S. D., 2006. Investigations on the etiology, epidemiology and integrated management of rhizome rot complex of ginger and turmeric. Ph.D. Thesis (Unpublished), University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, pp. 173.
