Journal of Advances in Biology & Biotechnology

Red rot, caused by Colletotrichum falcatum, is an important disease affecting sugarcane production. This study evaluated the antagonistic activity of four biocontrol agents against the pathogen under laboratory conditions and their effects on germination, sett mortality and red rot incidence under field conditions. The agents tested were Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma asperellum, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens. The laboratory experiment used a completely randomised design with five treatments and four replications. The field experiment was conducted during the 2022–23 season at Kalyanpur, Pusa, Bihar, using the susceptible sugarcane variety CoSe 95422 in a randomised block design with five treatments and four replications. Sugarcane setts were treated for 12 hours with a 0.6% aqueous solution of each biocontrol agent, with water serving as the control. In vitro, Bacillus subtilis produced the highest inhibition of pathogen mycelial growth (69.4%), followed by Pseudomonas fluorescens (66.9%), Trichoderma harzianum (63.6%) and Trichoderma asperellum (61.2%). Under field conditions, treatment with T. harzianum produced the highest germination (35.5%), lowest sett mortality (5.3%) and lowest red rot incidence (20.3%). The corresponding values in the control were 29.0%, 11.3% and 38.1%, respectively. These findings indicate that the tested biocontrol agents have potential for red rot management under the evaluated conditions. Further field validation is needed before recommending their wider application.