Abstract

The most important and economically cultivated cotton plant was selected to test the growth promotion by Trichoderma viride and Pseudomonas fluroescens with and without pathogens, Rhizoctonia solani and Macrophomina phaseolina. Of these, T. viride was found to be more effective than P. fluroescens on shoot and root length elongation. Seed germination percentage, root length, shoot length, fresh weight, dry weight and vigour index were significantly increased by T. virideand P. fluroescens. T. viride inoculated cotton plants increased 2.7 and 2.4 fold, where as P. fluorescens increased 2 and 1.8 fold for shoot and root length respectively. Pre-treated cotton seeds by T. viride showed 4 and 3.1 fold and P.fluorescens showed 3.1 and 2.8 fold shoot and root length elongation respectivelywhen compared with the control.

Key words: Trichoderma viride, Pseudomonas fluorescens, cotton plant, plant growth promotion.