Efficacy of fungicides in the management of Stemphylium blight of garlic

Stemphylium blight caused by Stemphylium vesicarium is most important disease of garlic in low and mid hill areas of Himachal Pradesh. The efficacy of two non-systemic fungicides viz., mancozeb (Indofil M-45), zineb (Indofil Z-78) and three systemic fungicides viz., difenoconazole (Score), tebuconazole (Raxil) and carboxin (Vitavax) was studied under in vitro and in vivo conditions. Among all the fungicides evaluated under in vitro conditions, difenoconazole (Score) was most effective causing complete mycelial growth inhibition at 100 ppm followed by tebuconazole (Raxil) at 750 ppm. Under field conditions, seed treatment with tebuconazole (Raxil) followed by two foliar sprays of difenoconazole (Score) resulted in 74.26 per cent disease control with the value of AUDPC (Area Under Disease Progress Curve) 508.65 as compared to control in which AUDPC value was 1676.49.