Vol. 9, Issue 6 (2020)

Author(s):
K Sethuraman

Abstract:
Field trials were conducted to test verify the effectiveness of various essential oils and neem products for the management of Turcicum leaf blight in different seasons during 2015-16. The experiments were laid out in a randomized block design replicated thrice. The treatments comprised of six essential oils, three neem products along with a control. The turcicum pathogen multiplied in the laboratory conditions were inoculated in the fields. Observations on disease incidence and grain yield were recorded. The results revealed that palamrosa oil (0.05%) recorded the lowest TLB incidence of 18.94% followed by eucalyptus oil (0.1%) 21.05%, lemon grass oil (0.05%) 22.09% and geranium oil (0.05%). The lesion length and width was also reduced by the above oils compared to control. With regard to grain yield, palmarosa oil (0.05%) recorded the highest yield of 6466 kg/ha followed by eucalyptus oil (0.1%) (6356 kg/ha), lemongrass oil (0.05%) (6285 kg/ha) and geranium oil (0.05%) (6098 kg/ha).