Chemical Control of Faba Bean Chocolate Spot (Botrytis fabae) in Bale Highland, Ethiopia

Abstract

Chocolate spot is a serious disease that cause yield reduction on faba bean crop, thus, effective management is essential. The objective of this study was to manage chocolate spot of faba bean with host resistance and fungicides in Bale highlands. Field experiments were conducted at Madda Walabu University (MWU) and Harewa research sites during 2017. Treatments were designed in RCBD factorial with three replications. Four fungicides such as mancozeb, fungozeb, nativo and diprocon were evaluated at the rate of 2.5kg/ha, 2.5kg/ha, 0.75L/ha and 0.45L/ha respectively against four varieties. Fungicide application significantly reduced chocolate spot severity, AUDPC and disease progress rate. The highest chocolate spot PSI, AUDPC and disease progress rate was recorded from local unsprayed plot at both sites; whereas the lowest chocolate spot PSI (3.7%) was recorded from walki treated with fungozeb. Maximum grain yield was recorded from plots treated with fungozeb fungicide at both locations. Further study should be conducted on the frequency of those fungicides to identify the optimum level of application and thereby increase production and productivity of faba bean in the region and elsewhere with similar agroecological settings.

Keywords: AUDPC; Botrytis fabae; fungicide; PSI