Field evaluation of fungicides against false smut disease of rice

Abstract

False smut disease of rice caused by Ustilaginoidea virens is an emerging biotic stress of rice. A field experiment to evaluate bioefficacy of solo and combination fungicides against false smut disease of rice was conducted in two consecutive Kharif seasons (2017 and 2018). Experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with eleven fungicide treatments of three replications each. Disease was measured and expressed in percent disease severity following previously described method. The data obtained in 2017 and 2018 was analyzed after pooling. Among different fungicides tested, trifloxystrobin (25%) + tebuconozole (50%) 75 WG at 0.4 g/ litre was found highly effective in controlling the false smut disease with least per cent disease severity (35.87) followed by azoxystrobin (18.2%) + difenconozole (11.4%) SC at 1ml/litre (39.90). The fungicide identified can be used for effective management of false smut disease under field condition.