Integrated management of Meloidogyne incognita and Rhizoctonia solani disease complex of Ocimum basilicum

An experiment was conducted under pot conditions to determine the effect of biocontrol agent (Trichoderma harzianum @ 0.05ml/kg soil), botanical (Neem seed powder @ 50mg/kg soil) and pesticides (Carbofuran @1 mg a.i/kg soil and Topsin-M @ 3 mg/kg soil) in separate as well as combined treatments against Meloidogyne incoginta (5000J2/kg soil) and Rhizoctonia solani (5 g mycelium/kg soil) disease complex on the disease development and plant growth of Ocimum basilicum. Results revealed that the combined treatments proved to be best to increase the plant growth and decrease disease severity significantly (P<0.05) as compared to all the treatments alone. The highest suppression of root colonization by the fungus (1.3%) and the maximum reduction in nematode reproduction and root-knot index (0.3) was achieved in combined treatment with T. harzianum + Neem seed powder + Carbofuran + Topsin- M.