Vol. 12, Issue 12 (2023)

Author(s):
Payal R Patel, SK Chawda and Prerak M Patel

Abstract:
Pointed gourd (Trichosanthes dioica Roxb.) is an annual or perennial herbaceous vine commonly known as pointed gourd (English), Putulika (Sanskrit), Parval (Hindi), Patola (Gujarati) and Patol (Bengali). It is called ‘King of gourds’ because of its higher nutrient content than other cucurbits and it belongs to family Cucurbitaceae. It is one of the most important cucurbit crops of South Gujarat particularly in Olpad, Mahuva and Chikhli block of Surat district. The pointed gourd is adversely affected by several abiotic and biotic factors including insects, pests, bacteria, nematode and fungi in varying proportions. It is also attacked by number of diseases at all stages of crop growth. Among them, wilt of pointed gourd caused by Fusarium solani (Mart.) Sacc. is one of the major threats to profitable cultivation in south Gujarat. Six different bio control agents were evaluated in vitro by dual culture method against the F. solani, which inhibited the growth of pathogen by 41.41 to 72.33 percent. The fungal bio control agent Trichoderma isolates were proved most effective than bacterial isolates. Among them Trichoderma isolates T. harzianum followed by T. viride showed most promising results compared to others. The highest growth inhibition of F. solani was recorded by T. harzianum (72.33%) followed by T. viride (70.81%). The least growth inhibition was recorded in Chaetomium globosum (41.41%). Pseudomonas fluorescens (65.48%) and Bacillus subtilis (56.81%) were proved less effective as compare to fungal bio agents.