Management of foliar diseases in blackgram

Abstract

Blackgram is an important short duration pulse crop grown throughout the year in Andhra Pradesh under different agro-climatic conditions. Though grown in larger area the productivity was low due to biotic and abiotic stresses. Among biotic stresses, diseases are responsible for an estimated yield loss of 20-30%. Among the foliar fungal diseases, powdery mildew, rust and leaf spots are more prevalent. The yield losses are proportional to the disease severity. Hence, the use of fungicides has become inevitable in controlling the foliar diseases in the absence of suitable resistant varieties. Experiment was conducted to find out effective fungicides for the management of foliar diseases in blackgram. Six different fungicides were evaluated under field conditions in which all the treatments tested were significantly superior over control in reducing the incidence of powdery mildew disease. During the experimental periods (rabi 2014, 2015 and 2016) there was no incidence of other fungal foliar diseases (rusts & leaf spots). Results showed that carbendazim @ 0.1% proved effective in minimizing the powdery mildew disease incidence by recording lowest Per cent Disease Index (PDI) of 34.15%, seed yield of 925 kg/ha & Cost Benefit ratio of 1:1.68.