Integrated management of banded leaf and sheath blight disease of maize

Bio-assay of fungicides against Rhizoctonia solani showed that carbendazim inhibited 93.8 per cent growth even at the concentration of 5 ppm. Under field conditions, carbendazim (0.2%) proved most effective as seed treatment showing 68.00 per cent reduction in disease over control and as a foliar spray (0.1%) it resulted least disease severity (25.78%) and highest grain yield (31.50 q/ha). Seed treatment as well as soil application of Trichoderma harzianum resulted in highest reduction in disease severity. T. harzianum alone as well as in combination with carbendazim when used as foliar spray showed best result.