The effect of seed treatment and foliar application with two endophytic entomopathogenic fungi, namely Beauveria bassiana and Purpureocillium lilacinum (Paecilomyces lilacinus), was evaluated against early blight disease under field conditions. Two different conidial concentrations (1×108 and 1×109 conidia mL-1) were used for seed treatment and foliar application, and their effect was evaluated by disease severity, disease incidence. Their effects were also investigated on plant growth parameters (plant height, number of leaves, fresh and dry plant weight, root-shoot fresh and dry weight). Experiments were conducted in two consecutive years with a factorial design setup. Both entomopathogenic fungi significantly decreased disease severity and percent disease incidence under field conditions. Seed treatment significantly decreased disease severity and percent disease incidence as compared to foliar application. Among treatments, B. bassiana showed the lowest disease severity and percent disease incidence as compared to P. lilacinum. A significant increase in plant height, leaves number, fresh and dry plant weight, and root-shoot weight was also observed at higher concentrations of B. bassiana when applied as a seed treatment. Our results also provide the first report on the antifungal effect of P. lilacinum against A. solani under field conditions for the sustainable management of early blight of tomatoes.
