Biological control of brown rot disease and enhanced crop production in tea by a fluorescent pseudomonas strain

Abstract

A fluorescent Pseudomonas strain isolated from soil under tea cultivation and designated as RRLJ 134 exhibited in vitro antibiosis against Fomes lamoensis, the causal organism of brown rot disease of tea on three different synthetic media. Dressing of two year old tea cuttings with this strain enhanced the shoot height, root length, number of buds, leaves and chlorophyll content of the newly emerged leaves in the nursery condition. Also, a statistically significant increase in fresh and dry weight of root, shoot, leaf and a bud was noted against control. The application of this strain also showed significant reduction in the number of infected tea cuttings in soil amended with F: lamoensis under nursery condition. The result indicates the possible use of this strain as a biocontrol agent of brown rot disease of tea besides enhancing the crop production.