Biocontrol of wheat leaf rust with redworm (<italic>Eisenia fetida)</italic> and its extracts: enhancing sustainable crop production.

Abstract Leaf rust caused by <italic>Puccinia triticina</italic> is an important disease of wheat worldwide. Different experiments were conducted to determine efficacy of redworm and its extracts against leaf rust on wheat seedlings. The first experiment involved the use of vermicast and artificial soil as planting substrates, and living worms were introduced into soil for four months. This significantly influenced leaf rust severity, with the lowest severity recorded among inoculated plants grown in vermicast (12% severity), followed by soil pulverised with 30 worms (30%) and 20 worms (40%), while control had the highest rust severity (>70%). Second experiment watered the inoculated seedlings with the extracts (vermicast and vermiwash) which resulted into significant lower leaf rust severity of 35% and 53%, respectively while untreated plants had >85% disease severity. Vermicast, which had the highest leaf rust suppression, was further tested, whereby it reduced leaf rust infection up to 30% with increase in seedling shoot and root growth of 21% and 17%, respectively. Redworm enhances resistance to leaf rust infection on inoculated plant via increase in growth that suppresses rust development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]