A preliminary experiment was done in glasshouse utilizing four selected bacteria viz., two isolates of fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. (PF-7 and PF-9), one chitinolytic bacterium (Chb-I) and one Bacillus sp. (B-44) in different combination against R. so/ani on cv. IR 50 plants. Seed and seedling treatment was always done with fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. isolate viz. PF-9 or PF-7 because this group of bacteria is reported to induce systemic resistance in plants. Seeds were soaked in a suspension of antagonist (isolate PF -9 or PF -7) for 24 hours and sown. Twenty-five day old seedlings were treated by dipping the roots in a suspension of antagonist overnight and then transplanted. The inoculation with R. so/ani was done at the maximum tillering stage (45 DA T) by placing 5-6 Typha cuttings colonized with the pathogen inside each hill (Bhaktavatsalam et aI.,1978) and tying with a rubber band. First and second foliar applications with different antagonists (108- 109CFU/ml) were done 2 days before and 2 days after inoculation of R. so/ani respectively. The third foliar application of antagonist was done 7 days after the second foliar application. In certain treatments, second and third foliar sprayings of antagonist were substituted with an application of fungicide (0.1 % carbendazim). Ten days after the final foliar application of biocontrol agents, observations were made on disease severity using 0-9 scale (IRRI, 1996).