Chemical Fungicide-Based Management of Early Blight (Alternaria solani ) in Potato: A Study of Agro-Climatic Conditions in Bangladesh
Abstract
Early blight ( Alternaria solani) is one of the most common and devastating diseases of potato caused by the fungus. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of six selective chemical fungicides against early blight disease of potato. The experimental design was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The six chemical fungicides, such as Mancozeb 80 WP (Mancozeb), Rovral 50WP (Iprodione), Sazid 70 WP (Mancozeb + Metalaxyl 7%), Win 77 WP (Copper Hydroxide), Pipertax 50 WP (Copper Oxychloride), and Tilt 25 EC (Propiconazole) were used in BARI Potato-7 to conduct this experiment. The application of Mancozeb 80 WP resulted in maximum reduction of plant infection (86.95%), leaf infection (86.83%), and disease severity (86.70%) at 80 days after planting. Additionally, the maximum yield increased by 121.18% when the potato was treated with Mancozeb 80 WP. Rovral 50 WP (Iprodione) also gave better control of the disease. Thus, application of fungicides, viz. Mancozeb 80 WP (Mancozeb) has shown a considerable effect for the treatment of early blight disease in potatoes under field conditions, as revealed in the present study.