Studies on prevalence of Black Scurf of Potato Rhizoctonia solani and its management through Integrated and Eco friendly approaches

Abstract

Solanum tuberosum is an important vegetable crop worldwide. The black scurf disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani has emerged as a major problem causing qualitative and quantitative losses in potato. Moreover, available information on management of black scurf (R. solani) disease is scanty. Therefore, all the field and laboratory experiments were carried out at the Agriculture Research Farms and Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, GKU during 2021-22 and 2022-23. newlineThe most obvious symptom of R. solani on potato crop, known as black scurf, appeared on the tubers and which was characterized by the formation of black, irregular sclerotia of different sizes. Laboratory studies based on different temperatures and growth medium parameters revealed that, potato dextrose agar medium and 25°C temperature was suitable for the maximum mycelium growth and number of sclerotia production. The sowing of crop on 15th October at a soil depth of 15 cm using varieties Kufri Sindhuri and Kufri Lalima was the highly effective strategy for the management of black scurf under Malwa region (Talwandi Sabo) of Punjab. newlineIn addition to this, the results indicated that a minimum disease incidence was observed with vermicompost soil incorporation while mushroom spent compost incorporated observed maximum disease incidence. Among the various treatments, the highest level of disease control was observed with the application of boric acid resulting in lowest disease incidence (19.85%). This was closely followed by the use of fungicides, specifically pencycuron (Monceren) which exhibited a disease incidence (20.60 %) and followed by carbendazim with the disease incidence (24.50 %). Tubers treated with bioagent Trichoderma harzianum showed highest reduction in disease incidence (30.73 %) followed by T. viride (31.24 %) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (34.49 %) as compared to control (49.28 %). Hence, Integrated disease management strategy is an ecologically and economically viable option to enhance crop productivity.