Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems

A field experiment was conducted during 2012–2014 to find out the effect of five fungicides viz., propiconazole 0.1%, mancozeb 75 WP @ 0.2%, difenconazole 25% EC @ 0.1%, mancozeb + carbendazim (0.1%) and Tebuconazole 50% + Trifloxystrobin 25% WG @0.5 g/L alone and in combination with mineral oil 1% for the management of Sigatoka leaf spot disease of banana caused by Mycosphaerilla musicola. Among all the eleven treatments tested, four sprays of combination of mineral oil 1% + tebuconazole 50% + trifloxystrobin 25% WG @ 0.5 g/l with the onset of the disease at 30 days interval was proved to be effective and resulted the lowest per cent disease index (16.12%) compared to control (30.18%). This treatment also gave a fairly good benefit: cost (B: C) ratio of 1: 1.62 with highest yield (53.30t/ha).