Integrated management of Asian soybean rust caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi Syd. & Syd. through fungicide and nutrients in India

Soybean rust caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi Syd. and Syd. is the potential disease, causing severe losses in yield and also quality of oil in soybean. The continuous use of chemical fungicides in the management of disease leads to the development of resistance in the pathogen and also causes deleterious effect on existing ecosystem. However, the influence of plant nutrition status on susceptibility and tolerance of crops to diseases is an important aspect to be considered. A field experiments was laid out in split plot design with two main treatments and six sub treatments at the AICRP on Soybean, Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Science, Dharwad, Karnataka and Research and Development Unit, Ugar Sugar Works Ltd., Ugarkhurd, (Belagavi district) during kharif season. Results of the integrated disease management with fungicide and nutrients in both the location revealed that two sprays of hexaconazole 0.1% + KNO₃ 2% recorded minimum disease severity followed by hexaconazole 0.1% + neem oil 1%. Further two sprays of these treatments recorded maximum seed yield, number of pods and 100 seed weight over unsprayed control.