Field evaluation of propiconazole fungicide against gray mold disease of castor

Abstract

Castor (Ricinus communis L.), is an important non-edible oilseed crop which belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae which plays a vital role in Indian vegetable oil economy. Gray mold of castor is one of the major destructive fungal disease causing huge yield loss. The occurrence of gray mold is strongly governed by weather conditions. In on farm demonstrations on fungicidal management of gray mold conducted during kharif 2019 at different locations in Mahabubnagar dt. and IIOR farm fields. Prophylactic sprays of propiconazole fungicide 0.1% was given based on the alerts given by the decision support system (DSS) for gray mold developed by ICAR- IIOR based on weather data obtained from Wireless Sensors Networks (WSN) deployed in farmer’s fields and observation on disease severity and seed yield were recorded manually in IIOR farms and farmer fields of Mahabubnagar district of Telangana state. The results revealed that two sprays of propiconazole @0.1% has recorded least percent disease severity and significantly increased the seed yield.