AbstractSheath blight caused by Rhizoctonia solani is one of the most destructive diseases limiting rice productivity. This study evaluated the efficacy of seven fungicide formulations viz., mancozeb 50% + thiophanate methyl 25% WG; kasugamycin 5% + copper oxychloride 45% WP; azoxystrobin 5.1% + tebuconazole 9.1% + prochloraz 18.2% EC; fenoxanil 5% + isoprothiolane 30% EC; azoxystrobin 14 % + epoxiconazole 9 % SC ; picoxystrobin 7.05% + propiconazole 11.7% SC and tebuconazole 50%+ trifloxystrobin 25% w/w WG under artificial epiphytotic field conditions during kharif season of 2023 and 2024 at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Among these, tebuconazole 50% + trifloxystrobin 25% @ 0.4g/L demonstrated highest efficacy, recording the lowest mean disease severity (12.78%) with the highest per cent disease control (84.25%) and significant increase in grain yield (36.60%) over the control. Picoxystrobin 7.05% + propiconazole 11.7% and azoxystrobin 14% + epoxiconazole 9% SC also showed promising results in both disease suppression and yield enhancement. A strong negative correlation (r = -0.95) was observed between disease severity and percent yield increase, highlighting the critical role of effective sheath blight management in improving rice productivity.
Jain et al. (Mon,) studied this question.