2024, Vol. 9, Special Issue 1

The Potato crop is susceptible to many diseases, some of which are widespread and others are localized. Late blight of potato, caused by Phytophthora infestans (Mont. De Bary), is among the most important diseases, being especially devastating in the major potato growing areas. It is the most widespread throughout the world and causes serious tuber losses globally. Worldwide losses due to late blight are estimated to exceed $6.7 billion annually and thus the pathogen is regarded as a threat to global food security.

Efforts were made in the present investigation to evaluate sequence of few commonly used fungicides for their comparative efficacy against Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) De Bary, with a view to select the most effective fungicide for the management of the disease. An experiment on “Management of late blight disease (Phytophthora infestance) of potato in the plateau region of Maharashtra” was conducted for 3 consecutive years during Rabi season of 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 and the data was pooled. The experiment was laid out in RBD design with four treatments and five replications. The results revealed that the first spray of mancozeb (75% WP) @ 0.25% followed by cymoxanil (8%) + mancozeb (64%) @ 0.3% and one more spray with mancozeb (75%) @ 0.25% was found significantly superior in controlling the late blight disease of potato and also recorded significant highest yield (t/ha) compared to other treatments.