Sustainable management of sheath blight in rice (Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn)

Abstract

A study was done to explore the various strategies to manage sheath blight of rice. During kharif 2018 and 2019, different treatments viz., foliar and soil application of Trichoderma viride, Pseudomonas fluorescens, mustard and radish leaf and their combination were applied at 30 and 60 days after transplanting (DAT), parameters such as disease severity, grain chaffiness, plant height and yield were evaluated at 45 and 75 DAT. Foliar application of propiconazole 25% EC @ 0.1% was most effective (50%-75.01%) followed by soil application of mustard leaf @ 5 kg/plot before transplanting and foliar application of P. fluorescens @ 5 g/L whereas foliar application of T. viride @ 5 g/L (9.64% and 46. 64%) was least effective. The foliar application of propiconazole 25% EC @ 0.1% recorded lowest percent of chaffiness (11-15%), highest yield of 4941.7-4991.7 kg/ha, whereas foliar application of T. viride @ 5 g/L showed highest percent of chaffiness (28.67-36.67%) with 3516.7-3475 kg/ha.