In Maharashtra, onion is most important commercial vegetable crop. Storage rot caused by Aspergillus niger (Van Tieghem) has been reported as major constraints in successful cultivation and post-harvest management of onion production. Therefore present study was carried out for effective biological management of Aspergillus niger. Eight bioagents were evaluated against A. niger, among them maximum mycelial growth inhibition was observed in Trichoderma harzianum (81.11%) followed by T. virens (78.22%), T. hamatum (72.66%), T. viride (64.88%), T. asperellum (61.88%) and Bacillus subtilis (57.77%). Lowest mycelial growth inhibition was recorded in Penicillium spp. followed by Pseudomonas fluorenscence (55.55%). Among all the botanicals studied, complete inhibition of the mycelial growth occurred in Eucalyptus globules. This was followed by Zingiber officinale (94.44%), Azadirachta indica (69.33%), Ocimum sanctum (64.88%) and Curcuma longa (62.22%). The least (49.67%) mycelial inhibition was recorded with Lantana camara followed by Syzygium aromaticum (61.11%). Maximum growth was recorded in control.

Download this article as