Integrated management of Alternaria blight disease of Pigeon pea

Blight disease of pigeon pea caused by Alternaria alternata is occurring in an alarming proportion in almost all pigeonpea growing areas of the world. Its management through integrated use of bio-agent and fungicides were evaluated under field conditions. All the fungicides tested in vitro were found effective in inhibiting the pathogen over control, except the carbendazim and thiophanate methyl, which showed the per cent inhibition of 44.79 and 29.15 per cent, respectively. Among the 12 treatments tested under field condition, the application of two sprays of difenconazole (0.1%) interspersed with Pseudomonas fluorescens (0.5%) recorded minimum per cent disease index of 25.75 with maximum yield (13.94 q ha-1), which was statistically on par with the application of two sprays of propiconazole (0.1%) interspersed with P. fluorescens (0.5%).