EFFICACY OF DIFFERENT FUNGICIDES AGAINST CITRUS MELANOSE DISEASE IN SARGODHA, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Citrus fruit is infected by various biotic factors including fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematode and spiroplasma. These biotic factors reduce the quality and quantity of citrus fruit. Among these biotic factors, fungi are playing a major role. Among the fungi, Diaporthe spp. cause significant disease of citrus crop known as citrus melanose. The disease is one of the emerging diseases of citrus trees in Pakistan. The objective of this study was in-vivo monitoring of citrus melanose disease and in-vitro evaluation of six different fungicides (Topsin-M, Copper oxychloride, Success, Aliette, Kumulus and Mancozeb) at different days of intervals. For this purpose, surveys of different citrus growing Tehsils of Sargodha were conducted for the collection of samples from infected citrus groves. Food poisoning technique was used to evaluate fungicides against Diaporthe citri. Three replicates of each fungicide and concentrations of 100, 200 and 300 ppm were used, and data were recorded after 3, 5 and 7-day’s interval. Results revealed that all fungicides significantly inhibited mycelial growth of Diaporthe citri. The maximum percent inhibition was obtained with the application of Mancozeb, while minimum percent inhibition was obtained with the application of Success with values 36% and 8% respectively