EFFICACY OF FUNGICIDES AGAINST FALSE SMUT OF RICE CAUSED BY USTILAGINOIDEA VIRENS

Rice (Oryza sativa) being the staple food crop in most of the countries under varying climate condition. Domestication of this crop invited many diseases and disorders incited by biotic and abiotic factors. Amongst the biotic factors, false smut of rice emerges in the seventies under influence of high yielding nutrition responsive varieties needed to get it managed by the application of different group of fungicides in proper dose at appropriate time. Kresoxyme methyl, Propiconazole and Carbendazim proved themselves well at all concentrations in inhibition of mycelial growth of Ustilaginoidea virens in vitro. Standardised dose of test fungicides were validated in the field at appropriate critical stages of crop growth. Kresoxyme methyl treated paddy plot showed least percent spikelet and panicle infection as 1.62 and 2.58 respectively with a severity of 3.08 percent yielded maximum yield of 49.50 q/ha followed by Propiconazole, Carbendazim and Mancozeb. Moreover, treatment of Mancozeb, Chlorothalonil and copper oxychloride showed nonsignificant reduction in percent infection of panicle, percent infected spikelet per panicle and disease severity as well as increase in yield over control