Field efficacy of new fungicide, Taqat 75 WP against foliar fungal diseases of Blackgram

Headnote

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Taqat 75 WP, a combination product of captan 70 % (contact) and hexaconazole 5 % (systemic) against foliar fungal diseases in blackgram. The experiment was carried out i.e. during Rabi 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Lam, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. The results showed that Taqat 75 WP at both the concentrations of 500 g and 750 g/ha as well as karathane 48 EC at 500 mL/ha were highly effective in controlling the incidence of foliar fungal diseases, such as rust and powdery mildew in blackgram

Keywords: Foliar diseases, Powdery mildew, Rust, Taqat, Urdbean

INTRODUCTION

India is an important pulse growing country contributing 28 per cent to the global pulse basket from an area of about 37 percent (Masood Ali and Shivkumar, 2000). Urdbean, commonly known as blackgram, Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper, is an important short duration pulse crop grown throughout the year in Andhra Pradesh under different agroclimatic conditions, such as kharif (rainy), rabi (winter) and summer crop both in uplands as well as in rice fallows. In Andhra Pradesh, the total production of blackgram is 13.74 lakh tonnes from an area of 32.99 lakh ha with a productivity of 417 kg/ha. Though, grown in large area, the productivity was low due to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Among the biotic stresses, diseases are responsible for an estimated yield loss of 20 to 30 percent (Singh, 1995). Among the foliar fungal diseases, powdery mildew, Cercospora leaf spot and rust are the more prevalent diseases on urdbean in Andhra Pradesh. The yield losses caused by foliar disease are proportional to the disease severity depending on the stage of infection, genotypes and environmental conditions. Hence, the use of fungicides have become inevitable in controlling the foliar diseases in the absence of suitable resistant cultivars.

Taqat 75 WP is a new combination product of captan 70 % (contact) and hexaconazole 5 % (systemic) which can control the foliar fungal diseases in different field crops. Hence, in the present study, Taqat 75 WP was evaluated at two different concentrations in comparison with Karathane 48 EC (dinocap) which is commonly used fungicide against foliar diseases in blackgram.

METHODOLOGY

A field experiment was conducted during...