Potential of Biocontrol Agents in Plant Disease Control for Improving Food Safety

  • Anju Sehrawat Department of Microbiology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar - 125 001, India
  • Satyavir Singh Sindhu Department of Microbiology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125001, India
Keywords: Rhizosphere microorganisms, plant diseases, phytopathogens, pesticides, biocontrol agents, biopesticides

Abstract

Plant disease control is mainly based on extraneous application of pesticides to improve agriculture productivity. However, only a part of applied pesticides is used for killing of pathogens and pests. Large part of applied pesticides remains either as residual pesticide or gets volatilized or leached resulting in ecological and environmental problems, and human health hazards. The increased consumer demands for safe food have invigorated research on development of safe and ecofriendly biopesticides. The use of microorganisms for biological control of pests is considered as a pragmatic approach which can drastically lessen the adverse outcomes of agrochemicals in soil. Rhizospheric microorganisms isolated from various crops produce different antagnostic compounds and inhibit the growth of various phytopathogens and insect pests. Moreover, in several plants, hormones like salicylic acid, jasmonic acid and ethylene contribute towards induction of both, systemic acquired as well as induced systemic resitance. In this article, antagonistic rhizosphere microorganisms have been explored for control of phytopathogens. Further, recent advances in field of biopesticides using rhizosphere microorganisms under field conditions is discussed for improving
crop productivity in sustainable agriculture

Author Biographies

Anju Sehrawat, Department of Microbiology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar - 125 001, India

Dr Anju Sehrawat received her MSc (Microbiology) and PhD
in Microbiology from CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar, India. She is well acquainted with the techniques of
molecular biology and bioinformatics. She has published
more than 15 research papers/book chapters. She has attended
many interdisciplinary workshops, national and international
conferences.

Satyavir Singh Sindhu, Department of Microbiology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125001, India

from CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India and
PhD (Microbiology) from University of East Anglia, Norwich,
U.K. He served as Additional Director of Research and Principal
Scientist in CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. His
research is mainly focussed on plant-microbe interactions including
development of rhizobacterial strains having biocontrol activity
and plant growth promotion ability leading to improvement
in crop productivity. He has published more than 80 research
articles in national and international journals, and has published
52 book chapters/reviews

Published
2019-10-21
How to Cite
Sehrawat, A., & Sindhu, S. (2019). Potential of Biocontrol Agents in Plant Disease Control for Improving Food Safety. Defence Life Science Journal, 4(4), 220-225. https://doi.org/10.14429/dlsj.4.14966
Section
Special Issue Paper