Weather based Forecasting of Fungal Foliar Diseases of Bt. Cotton

Author: Somashekhar N.M., Kulkarni V.R. and Sabeena I.B.

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Abstract

Cotton (Gossypium spp.) an important commercial crop called as king of fibres. It is known to be infected by many diseases such as Alternaria blight, grey mildew, rust and black arm of cotton. Disease development is mainly influenced by weather parameters such as maximum and minimum temperature, morning and evening relative humidity, rainfall and rainy days. Studies were conducted to assess the progress of fungal foliar diseases on two Bt genotypes of cotton (Bunny Bt and Dr. Brent Bt) in relation to weather parameters. The results revealed that significant negative correlation was observed for minimum temperature, morning and evening relative humidity, number of rainy days in both the genotypes with PDI of Alternaria blight alone and significant negative correlation was observed for minimum temperature, morning and evening relative humidity in both the genotypes with grey mildew PDI. The significant negative correlation was observed in cotton rust for minimum temperature, morning and evening relative humidity in both the genotypes. This study focuses on impact of weather parameters on fungal foliar diseases and tackles the problem as well.

Keywords

Alternaria blight, black arm, correlation, cotton, Gossypium spp., grey mildew

Conclusion

The present studies concluded that, maximum and minimum temperature, morning and evening relative humidity, rainfall and rainy days are the critical weather parameters contributing to the development of alternaria blight, grey mildew and rust. Farmers are advised to take up the preventive measures to control the diseases as per the standard recommendations.

References

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How to cite this article

Somashekhar N.M., Kulkarni V.R. and Sabeena I.B. (2023). Weather based Forecasting of Fungal Foliar Diseases of Bt. Cotton. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(2): 830-835.