STEM BIT TECHNIQUE - AN INNOVATIVE METHOD TO EVALUATE FUNGICIDES AGAINST SHEATH BLIGHT OF RICE

摘要

Rice is the most economically important staple food crop in India catering to the needs of 70% of the population but the production is hampered by a destructive disease called Sheath blight caused by soil-borne necrotic fungal pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn. In order to facilitate evaluation of chemicals, a new method has been developed for an effective and easier evaluation of the fungicides on host plant under laboratory conditions. In evaluation of a fungicide, Hexaconazole 5% EC (Contaf 5EC) recorded no sheath blight lesion compared to untreated check which recorded a lesion length of 7.97cm. Hence, "Stem Bit Technique" is a most reliable, reproducible and accurate method in evaluating fungicides against sheath blight within a short span of time.