ABSTRACT

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the important cereal crops in the world standing next to wheat and rice. Maize is prone to several diseases among which turcicum leaf blight (TLB) caused by Exserohilum turcicum is one of the most devastating foliar fungal disease-causing grain yield losses of up to 28-91 per cent. TLB is widely distributed in all maize growing areas of our country. Under in vitro evaluation of commercially available botanicals, Margoneem (Azadirachtin 0.15%) and Perfekt (Herbal mixture) were significantly superior to other botanicals with 100 per cent mycelial growth inhibition of E. turcicum at all concentrations. Among the bioagents, Trichoderma harzianum and Pseudomonas fluorescens showed the maximum per cent mycelial growth inhibition of 100 and 68.90 per cent, respectively. Of the various Indigenous Technical Knowledge evaluated panchagavya @ 10 per cent and cow urine @ 10 per cent proved to be most effective with 70.97 and 62.35 per cent of inhibition of conidial germination.The integrated disease management studies revealed that, first spray of Margoneem (Azadirachtin 0.15%) @ 2.5 ml/l at the time of disease appearance followed by second spray of T. harzianum @ 10g/l in a fifteen days interval found to be most effective treatment (T7). This treatment has recorded the least PDI of 28.89 per cent, highest grain yield (59.84 q/ha), fodder yield (8.72 t/ha), stay greenness percentage (14.27), shelling percentage (86.39) and net returns of Rs 58,834/ha. The present study revealed that integration of plant extracts with bioagents and ITK’s can significantly reduce TLB severity and produce good yield which forms an eco-friendly approach for the management of turcicum leaf blight of maize.