Assessment of the Effects of Chemical and Cultural Control on Incidence of Leaf Blast (Magnaphorthe grisea), Growth and ield Loss of Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica (L.) P.BEAUV) in Northeastern Nigeria

Abstract

In 2007 cropping season, a multilocational trial was laid in split-plot using a randomized complete block design at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maiduguri and Gashua Farm Station lying in the Sudan and Sahel agro-ecological zones resepectively. The aim was to assess the effects of chemical and cultural (seed rates) control on the incidence of leaf blast (Magnaphorthe grisea), growth and yield loss of foxtail millet in the Northeastern Nigeria. The results of 2007 showed that plants grown from the highest fungicide seed treatment level of 100% had significantly (P ? 0.5) the lowest disease incidence of  20.8% and, 0.4% while the untreated chech recorded significantly (P ? 0.5) the highest disease incidence of 80.0% and 64.3% at Maiduguri and Gashua agro-ecological locations respectively. Results showed that at Maiduguri and Gashua locations, plant grown from seed rate of 12.5kg/ha had significantly (P ? 0.05) the highest disease incidence of 51.6% and 39.7% respectively. According to the results, the effects of the fungicide seed treatment levels and seed rates on plant height and panicle length of foxtail millet were highly significant (P ? 0.05) but the heading days was not significant (P ? 0.05) at both locations. Higher plant height and panicle length were recorded at fungicide seed treatment ranging from 80 – 100% and seed rate of 5.0kg/ha. Also, the highest grain yields were obtained at the fungicide seed treatment level of 80 to 100% and at seed rate of 10kg/ha at the two locations. Results showed that the lowest plant height and panicle length were recorded on plants grown from the untreated seeds (control) at the highest seed rate of 12.5kg/ha while the lowest grain yield was recorded from the untreated plants at the lowest seed rate of 5.0kg/ha at Maiduguri and Gashua locations respectively. The results therefore provide a vital idea to the farms on how to manage crop diseases and optimize grain yield.

Keywords: Incidence, Fungicide, Disease seed rate, Seed treatment, cultivar