Solan lalima is an open pollinated and indeterminate variety of tomato having superiority over the present tomato hybrids available in the markets in terms of fruit quality and productivity. Being open pollinated variety, it’s a suitable option for organic cultivation. The farmer can produce its seeds at their own farm. The importance of healthy seed selection and disease free nursery raising is the most important requirement to have the desired crop performance, lower the abiotic and biotic yield limiting constrains, reduce the incidence of insect-pest- disease (IPD) and to fetch remunerative economic return to the farmers. The reduction in potential yield in hills by the farmer is due to the increasing susceptibility of pre and post emergence of insect-pest and diseases at regular intervals, right from the nursery raising to the final harvesting period, where the incidence of most pathogenic diseases like Damping off (Pythium aphanidermatum), bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solani) and fusarial wilt (Fusarium oxysporum) etc. can be witnessed which ruin the crop diversity and quality to the most worst level. The problem becomes more severe when the crop is attacked by the cascade of diseases one after the other. The use of conventional chemical pesticides is considered most preferred practices to manage the outbreaks of these diseases, but the indiscriminate chemical approach to deal with these hazards has contributed to adverse effects like soil acidity, impairing soil physical conditions, reducing beneficial microbial population and continuously degrading organic matter, increasing plant susceptibility to insect-pest-diseases and decreasing soil lives.

The use of biocontrol agents (BCA’s) in combination with organic manures and biofertilizers is the suitable alternative to chemical applications with sustainable disease management without pesticides residues in food stuffs, development of resistance in plant pathogens and appearance of new strains of these pathogens. The biocontrol agents are highly effective, inexpensive with excellent shelf life and suitable method of delivery [1] . To- mato is playing an indispensable role in the economic upliftment of hilly area farmers in form of off season crop in the mid hills of Himachal Pradesh. Tomato produced in Himachal Pradesh during June to November becomes off season vegetable in the markets of North Indian plains fetching very remunerative prices to farmers. The area and production of tomato crop in India, H.P. and Solan district is summarized in Table 1.

Determining the burning criteria of food quality and safety concerning each individual, an organic strategy can prove a miracle in increasing crop productivity, managing insect-pest and diseases, lowering pesticide residues an ultimately boosting up the best economic returns to the farmers.

Keeping in view the above raised priorities, the present studies were undertaken to test:

1) The efficacy of different combinations of organic manures, biofertilizers and BCA’s for the management of various diseases, so as to integrate it in disease management schedule at farmer’s field.

2) To access the effect of the organic treatments on the productivity and incidence of important diseases.

The results obtained are presented and discussed under the following headings:

All botanicals were found significantly effective in increasing the seedling emergence and vigour index of tomato seeds under both nursery and field conditions. Similar findings on testing biocontrol agent’s effectiveness against disease control, improvement in seedling vigour, seedling emergence were worked out in cauliflower [3] in capsicum, in tomato [4] . The results were at par with the work, where the use of Trichoderma isolates and bacterial antagonists used for biopriming of tomato seeds resulted in improvement in seed emergence (%), vigour (%) and biomass. The significant increase in the parameters (root length, shoot length, no. of roots and internodal length) resulted from the inherent capacity of bioagents which have been observed to protect the seeds from diseases as well as providing nutrients to germinating seeds by decomposition of organic matter. Secretion of hormones and release of nutrients from soil organic matter have been proposed as a mechanism involved in plant growth promotion [5] [6] . It is inferred that bioagents seem to be more effective in checking the post emergence rots where disease incidence is reduced to a broader level (59%) as compared to pre emergence rot reduction level (45.6%). The results of the studies are in consence with the findings of [7] where a similar inference was drawn with maximum disease reduction in post emergence rot incidence compared to pre rot incidence, due to the time required for multiplication of inoculum of bioagents in rhizosphere and collar region of seedling. Similar control of damping off has been observed through application of Trichoderma viridae and

SD: standard deviation; Level of significance (at α = 0.05 by Fisher (F) test; Sig.-significance: HS^*** = highly significant, best treatments bold and highlighted and control values highlighted but not bold, ^*data pooled for two consective years (2012-2013). RDI: reduction in disease incidence.

SD: standard deviation; Level of significance (at α = 0.05 by Fisher (F) test; Sig.-significance: HS^*** = highly significant, best treatments bold and highlighted and control values highlighted but not bold, ^*data pooled for two consective years (2012-2013).

Pseudomonas fluorescence [8] [9] . The study resulted in successive control of daming-off as likewise observed by Kabdal et al., (2010) in his findings and study for health management of capsicum nursery with the use of biocontrol agents. The total successful emergence of tomato seedlings and percent reduction in disease incidence of fusarial wilt and buckeye rot after transplanting to a main field indicated that maximum mean germination was reported in T₃, compared to control (64.3%) and the mean reduction in fusarial wilt and buckeye rot was found to be 63.2% and 42.3%. The present results are at par with the similar findings [10] where the application of antagonist fungus, Trichoderma as seed and soil treatment agent had significant effect in reducing disease incidence and increasing percent increase in yield over control, according to which simultaneous application of Trichoderma as seed priming and soil incorporation results in protective cover in the seed coat by rapid multiplication and boosting a greater strength to out compete the pathogens.

In the present investigation the combinatorial approach of integrating biocontrol agents in organic treatments gave promising results for increasing the tomato germination (%) and seedling vigour under both nursery and field conditions, thus reducing the level of three major diseases-damping-off, fusarial wilt and buckeye rot and other harmful pathogens. The addition of microbial biocontrol agents during biopriming allows for colonization of the seed prior to planting and adds a new dimension to seed priming treatments, thus replacing the harmful synthetic fungicides which ruin the whole crop. The implication of the study is to control seed and soil borne pathogens with an application of biocontrol agents coupled with organic manures and biofertilizers right at prime nursery stage so that the incidence of diseases is reduced to a significant level so that it greatly lowers when the tomato seedlings are transplanted in main field, which in turn will help in maximum seedling survival and reduction in disease incidence.