EFFECT OF SOME SELECTED ECO-FRIENDLY TREATMENTS ON LEAF BLIGHT (Bipolaris sorokiniana) SEVERITY AND GRAIN YIELD OF WHEAT

Abstract

An Experiment was conducted during 2006-2007 to study the effect of some eco-friendly treatments on severity of leaf bight (Bipolnris sorokinianm, number and weight of grain per spike and grain health of wheat. Seeds of wheat variety Kanchan were collected from a farmer of Bansal district. Apparently healthy seeds were sorted out from the seed lot. Both unsorted and apparently healthy seeds were treated with hot water at 50°C for 5 minutes, brine solution (2% wlv NaCI) for 15 minutes, sun drying for 14 hours and polythene solarization for 14 hours. Unsorted and apparently healthy seeds were planted and 0.05% boron solution was applied as foliar spray at tillering stage. Two checks were maintained, unsorted and apparently healthy seeds, and planted without any treatment. At all stages of data collection. the highest severity of leaf blight on flag leaf and penultimate leaf were recorded under control. where unsorted and untreated seeds were planted followed by the treatment where apparently healthy seeds were planted without any treatment. Other treatments caused significant reduction in leaf blight severity and percentage of diseased seeds as compared to control. The treatments gave significant increase in number and weight of grain per spike and percentage of healthy grain. Considering the above parameters, pre-sowing treatment of apparently healthy seeds with hot water, brine or sundrying were noted as effective ceo-friendly methods to reduce leaf blight severity and to increase grain yield and healthy seeds of wheat.