Bio-efficacy of newer fungicides against downy mildew of cucumber incited by Pseudoperonospora cubensis

Downy mildew (Pseudoperonospora cubensis) is a compound interest disease capable of inflicting economic losses to cucumber in a short span of time and therefore its management relies heavily on the timely application of fungicides. The present study was undertaken during two consecutive seasons of the year 2019 and 2020 under field conditions to assess the efficacy of fluoxapiprolin 2% SC @ 750, 1000 and 1250 mL ha^-1 in comparison with azoxystrobin 23% SC @ 500 mL ha^-1 and cymoxanil 8% + mancozeb 64% WP @ 1500 mL ha^-1 against downy mildew of cucumber. Results from two years experiment indicated that two foliar sprays of fluoxapiprolin 2% SC @ 20 g ai ha^-1 at 7 days intervals were found highly effective when applied as soon as the first symptoms of the downy mildew appear. The treatment fluoxapiprolin 2% SC @ 20 g ai ha^-1 provided 81.3 and 78.3% disease control during 2019 and 2020, respectively. Fluoxapiprolin 2% SC @ 20 g ai ha^-1 provided 44.4 and 52.8% yield gain over untreated check in 2019 and 2020, respectively.