Management of Maydis Leaf Blight Disease of Maize Caused by Bipolaris maydis (Nisikado and Miyake) through Different Modules

Abstract

Maydis leaf blight (MLB) is a prevalent disease, caused by the necrotrophic plant pathogen Bipolaris maydis, affecting maize worldwide. Depending on environmental conditions, MLB can lead to yield losses of up to 40% or even more in favourable conditions. To minimize the huge losses, the efficacy of different combinations of disease management components was assessed as an alternative approach. The effectiveness of three modules namely organic, chemical, and IDM, was tested at Tirhut College of Agriculture, Dholi, Muzaffarpur during 2020 and 2021. Seed treatment with Trichoderma harzianum @ 10g/kg seed, foliar spray of Pseudomonas fluorescens @ 10g/l of water at 45 DAS & foliar  spray of Azoxystrobin 18.2 % + Difenoconazol 11.4 % w/w Sc (Amister Top 325 SC) @ 1 ml/l of water at 40 DAS, foliar spray of cow urine (20%)  at 50 DAS was most effective in managing the disease (IDM module) followed by Seed treatment with Thiram @ 3g/kg seed, foliar spray of  Mancozeb 75 WP @ 2.5 g/l of water at 40 DAS , foliar spray of Azoxystrobin  18.2 % + Difenoconazol 11.4 % w/w Sc (Amister Top 325 Sc) @ 1 ml/L of water at 50 DAS) (Chemical module).  The IDM module exhibited the maximum mean yield (6,742.50 kg/ha), highest increase in yield (57.32 %) and lowest PDI (27.40%).