Management of sesame phyllody disease in Assam, India Kalita Manoj Kumar1,*, Bora Buddha2, Upadhayay Vinod3, Pathak Dalim4, Gogoi Nripen5, Kalita Rontung6 1College of Horticulture and Farming System Research, Assam Agricultural University, Nalbari, Assam, India 2Biswanath College of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University, Biswanath Charialy, Assam, India 3Regional Agricultural Research Station, Assam Agricultural University, Gossaigaon, Assam, India 4Regional Agricultural Research Station, Assam Agricultural University, Shillongoni, Assam, India 5Regional Agricultural Research Station, Assam Agricultural University, Lakhimpur, Assam, India 6Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam, India *Corresponding author e-mail: Manoj Kumar Kalita (manoj.kalita@aau.ac.in)
Online Published on 11 January, 2024. Abstract Four different insecticidal treatments along with a control were evaluated to manage the sesame phyllody disease in Assam, India. Seed treatment with imidacloprid 70% WG at 6 g/kg of seed plus foliar spray of thiamethoxam 25% WG at 2 g/10 l H2O at 20, 35, 50 days after germination of sesame seed resulted in the lowest incidence of sesame phyllody disease (9.20% and 11.17%), lowest population of leafhopper Heshimonus phycitis (2.99 and 2.95 average insects in 5 sweeps of net), highest seed yield (5.41 and 5.34 q/ha) and highest benefit: cost (B:C) ratio (2.06 and 2.03) during 2019 and 2020 respectively. This was followed by seed treatment with imidacloprid 70% WG at 6 g/kg of seed plus foliar spray of imidacloprid 17.8% SL at 2 ml/10 l H2O at 20, 35, 50 DAG resulting in disease incidence of 10.28% and 13.71%, leafhopper population of 3.85 and 4.20 per 5 sweeps of net, seed yield of 5.16 and 5.02 q/ha along with B:C ratio of 2.01 and 1.96 during 2019 and 2020 respectively. Highest disease incidence (39.33% and 38.82%), highest leafhopper population (6.10 and 6.49 average insects per 5 sweeps of net), lowest seed yield (3.29 and 2.91 q/ha) with considerably low B:C ratio (1.56 and 1.39) was observed in the control plots during 2019 and 2020 respectively. The sesame seeds produced in the insecticide treated plots resulted to be free from residues of imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. Considering the B:C ratio, seed treatment with imidacloprid 70% WG at 6 g/kg of seed plus foliar spray of thiamethoxam 25% WG at 2 g/10 l H2O at 20, 35, 50 DAG can be effectively used to manage sesame phyllody disease. Top Keywords Disease incidence, Leafhopper, Imidacloprid, Thiamethoxam, Benefit: cost ratio. Top |