Effect of foliar application of fungicides, Neem extract and Butter Milk on yellow rust, plant growth and yield parameters of wheat Tak Parminder Singh1*, Pannu P P S1, Kaur Jaspal2 1Department of Plant Pathology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab 2Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab *Corresponding author: takparminder@pau.edu
Online published on 3 June, 2021. Abstract Ever dynamic Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici, evolving into new virulences has led to frequent breakdown of resistance in wheat varieties in Punjab. Therefore, timely and need based application of fungicides to manage yellow rust of wheat is very important. Azoxystrobin + difenoconazole 325 SC, azoxystrobin + cyproconazole 280 SC, azoxystrobin + tebuconazole 320 SC, pyraclostrobin + epoxiconazole 175 SE, tebuconazole 25 EC each @ 0.1%, captan + hexaconazole 75 WP@ 0.3% and trifloxistrobin + tebuconazole 75 WG @ 0.6% proved highly effective and gave almost complete control of yellow rust and inhibited sporulation in trials conducted during 2016–17 and 2017–18 crop season. An increase of up to 30.2 per cent in thousand grain weight and 40.2 per cent in grain yield was observed with these fungicidal treatments. Improved plant growth attributes like tillering and plant height was also observed along with disease control. The efficacy of neem leaf extract, fermented butter milk and neem leaf extract + fermented butter milk was low as compared to fungicides. However, being indigenous home production, it resulted in highest cost-benefit ratio i.e. 1: 11.86. Maximum thousand grain weight of 45.6g and yield of 57.03q/ha was observed in azoxystrobin+difenoconazole 325 SC, which was 30.2 and 40.3 per cent more than control, respectively. Top Keywords Butter milk, Fungicides, Neem extract, Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici, Yellow rust. Top |