Prospecting the Effectiveness of Fungicides and Bioagents against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz & Sacc.

Aims: The leaf spot caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz & Sacc. is one of the most serious disease in all mango growing regions of the world. In vitro bioassay of fungicides and bioagents were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of different fungicides and bioagents against C. gloeosporioides.

Study Design: Poison food techique for fungicides bioassay and dual culture technique for bioagents bioassay.

Place and Duration of Study: The laboratory studies were conducted in the Department of Plant Pathology, N. M. College of Agriculture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat, India during 2020–2021.

Methodology: The poison food technique assessed the efficacy of systemic, contact and combination fungicides against C. gloeosporioides. While the dual culture method was employed to gauge the potency of biocontrol agents, against C. gloeosporioides.

Results: In laboratory screening, systemic fungicides such as carbendazim and difenconazole were shown to have 100% growth suppression at 500 ppm. Mancozeb and copper oxychloride, two contact fungicides, demonstrated 100% growth inhibition of C. gloeosporioides at 2500 ppm . The combi-product fungicides tricyclazole 18% + mancozeb 62%, hexaconazole 4% + zineb 68%, and carbendazim 12% + mancozeb 63% were shown to exhibit 100% growth inhibition at 2000 ppm. Using the dual culture method, five distinct bioagents were tested in vitro for their ability to prevent the development of C. gleosporiodes. Trichoderma harzianum showed up as one of them to be a powerful and effective antagonist of C. gleosporiodes.

Conclusion: In vitro fungicide and bioagent testing provides preliminary data on the effectiveness of fungicides against pathogens, guiding field testing. The study evaluated the effectiveness of fungicides and bioagents in suppressing the leaf spot pathogen of mango.