Background: This study determined the incidence, severity and distribution of fungal pathogens associated with cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) causing brown leaf spot (BLS) disease during the 2021-2023 cropping seasons in five communities each from Sunyani municipality, Sunyani west municipality and Dormaa east district of Bono Region, Ghana. 
 
Methods: During the survey, incidence and severity of BLS were observed in cassava fields across the fifteen communities using a purposive sampling method in the dry and rainy seasons. A simple random method was employed to sample 135 infected cassava plants showing symptoms of BLS for isolation and purification of the putative pathogen. The study subsequently validated Koch&rsquo;s postulates. 
 
Result: A total of 898 pathogenic fungal isolates were extracted and identified as belonging to 15 genera, with two fungal pathogens, belonging to the genera Colletotrichum and Lasiodiplodia spp., identified as the causative agents of BLS with relative prevalence of 40% and 31.68%, respectively. The rainy season had a significantly higher incidence of BLS (76.87%) than the dry season (18.40%). The rainy season also had a significantly higher severity score (63.02) than the dry season (43.3). The damage index in Sunyani west municipality and Dormaa east district was also significantly (P &lt; 0.001) different between the dry and rainy seasons. In the rainy season, more foliar damage occurred at an average of 71.9% than in the dry season, which recorded 8.0%.

Prevalence of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) Brown Leaf Spot Disease in the Bono Region of Ghana and Association of Fungi with Leaf Spots

<div>Background: Tuberose flower has been found to be affected by various fungal and viral diseases which affect growth and cause loss in flower yield. Among them, leaf spot incited by Aternaria polianthi is an important fungal disease in tuberose. The incidence of the disease is common in the both single and double-type tuberose varieties due to prevalence of high rainfall and humid conditions. During survey it was found that the disease incidence was increasing gradually causing economic losses in Assam. 
 
Methods: The field trial was carried out during kharif seasons (2015 -18) to test the efficacy of six fungicides against leaf spot of tuberose (Var. Local single petal) caused by Alternaria polyantha. Four sprays with fungicides at an interval of seven days starting from the first appearance of the disease symptom were done. Per cent disease incidence (%) with growth parameters were recorded one week after the last spray. Another field experiment for screening the resistant genotypes was conducted using 11 tuberose genotypes during kharif seasons (2016-17 and 2017-18). 
 
Result: Eleven tuberose cultivars (Bidhan Ranjani-1, Bidhan Ranjani-2, Arka Nirantara, GK-TC-4, Prajwal, Phule Rajani, Local Single, Local Double, Vaibhav, Suhashini and Shringer) were screened against leaf spot caused by A.polyanthi under natural field condition. None of the cultivars were found to be immune or resistant, while three cultivars viz., GK-TC-4, Bidhan Rajani-1 and Arka Nirantara showed moderate resistant reaction with recorded per cent disease incidence of 16.11, 18.17 and 18.71, respectively. Spraying with azoxystrobin, difenoconazole and a combo fungicide consisting of iprodione (25%) + carbendazim (25%), at 0.1% recorded lowest per cent disease incidence of 7.91, 9.83 and 11.85% compared to control (33.62 PDI) with per cent disease reduction of 70.59%, 64.61% and 76.31%, respectively.</div>

Screening of Tuberose Cultivars against Leaf Spot (Alternaria polyanthi) and its Management

<div>Background: Spotted pod borer, Maruca vitrata, cause greater damage by attacking flowers, pods in greengram plants. This study investigates the efficacy and economics of certain novel insecticides when sprayed against spotted pod borer in green gram.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: The experiment was conducted at Crop Research Center, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut, during kharif 2019 in randomized block design with eight treatments (Emamectin benzoate, Spinosad, Chlorantroniliprole, Indoxacarb, Novaluron, Profenophos, Triazophos and control) and three replications on variety SML668. Observations were taken at three, seven and eleven days after the first and second spray and the data thus recorded were analyzed.&nbsp; 
 
Result: The insecticide Chlorantraniliprole 20SC @ 0.025 ml/ lit has shown the highest efficacy with low per cent pod damage (7.33) and maximum grain yield (8.61q/ ha) against M. vitrata from the first day of application followed by Spinosad 45SC @ 0.25 ml/ lit with pod damage of 10.67 per cent and grain yield of 5.08 q/ ha. The highest cost-benefit ratio was obtained in Emamectin benzoate treatment (1:8.54), followed by chlorantraniliprole (1: 6.76).</div>

Bioefficacy and Economics of Certain Novel Generation Insecticides against Spotted Pod Borer, Maruca vitrata (Geyer) in Greengram (Vigna radiata L.)

<div>Background: Early leaf spot caused by Cercospora arachidicola Hori. is most destructive disease in all the groundnut growing areas of Rajasthan, under severe infestation it cause 30-50% losses in pod yield. Recently, Central Insecticide Board (CIB), Faridabade banned 27 pesticides including some important fungicides which are extensively used in plant disease management. Therefore, in the present investigation, our main emphasis was to find out some new fungicides for management of early leaf spot disease. 
 
Methods: Ten fungicides (hexaconazole 5% EC, difenconazole 25% EC, propiconazole 25% EC, tebuconazole 25.9% EC, trifloxystrobin 25% + tebuconazole 50% WG, mancozeb 50% WP, chlorothalonil 75% WP, carbendazim 50% WP, carbendazim 12% + mancozeb 63% WP and captan 70% + hexaconazole 5% WP) were evaluated against early leaf spot pathogen (C. arachidicola) both in lab as well as in field condition. The experiment was conducted at ARS, SKRAU, Bikaner during Kharif-2019 on most popular cv. HNG-69 in RBD design with the application of foliar spray of ten different fungicides at different concentrations against early leaf spot disease and compared with an untreated control. 
 
Result: Among all the fungicides used in the present investigation, Tebuconazole 25.9% EC was found most effective in inhibiting the mycelial growth of the pathogen followed by trifloxystrobin 25% + tebuconazole 50% WG. Under field condition, it gave maximum (70.73%) disease control with highest pod yield (31.5 q/ha) and net return (Rs 57,500/ha) when applied as foliar spray at 0.1% concentration followed by trifloxystrobin 25% + tebuconazole 50% WG at 0.2%. These treatments can provide an effective and economical management of early leaf spot disease for groundnut cultivators.</div>

​Management of Early Leaf Spot (Cercospora arachidicola) of Groundnut in Rajasthan

<div>Background: Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is the fourth most important oil seed crop in the world. The early and late spots are a foliage disease more common and more destructive of groundnut which cause severe yield losses up to 70% and reduces the quality of the pod and fodder. Recent efforts have targeted on developing resistant source against leaf spot disease which are helpful for discarding the hazardous toxic chemical compounds used for controlling the disease. The current study aimed to identify the sources of resistance to leaf spot from the newly identified genotypes as well as from wild species and to study the way in which these were responding to the to the disease development. 
&nbsp;</div>

<div>Methods: &nbsp;Seventy three groundnut genotypes were screened against late leaf spot disease under artificial epiphytotic conditions in field at AICRP on Groundnut, MPKV, Rahuri during kharif 2015-16. The observations of disease intensity and rate of infection were recorded. 
 
Result: Among the Seventy three groundnut genotypes, 10 genotypes showed resistant and 33 genotypes showed the moderately resistant reaction to leaf spot disease. The 25 entries showed the susceptible and 05 genotypes showed the highly susceptible reaction to the leaf spot disease. All the susceptible cultivars belong to A. hypogaea sub. sp. fastigiata var. fastigiata &nbsp;to as Spanish bunch. These 10 resistant genotypes of groundnut including two wild species viz., RHRG 6083, KDG 128, GPBD 4, ICGV 94118, ICGV 4983, &nbsp;ICG 12672, ICGV 13160 (A. batizocoi), ICGV 13165 (A. cardenasi), ICG 11426 and ICGV8193 were selected for intensive artificial screening under glasshouse conditions and also confirmed resistance. The resistant lines will be useful to develop introgression lines using marker-assisted backcrossing approach to improve foliar fungal disease resistance in popular groundnut varieties.</div>

<div>Screening of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Genotypes for Identification of Sources of Resistance against Leaf Spot Disease</div>

Spotted pod borer is one of the major biotic constraint for pulses production which can cause damage to the economic plant parts such as flower buds, flowers and pods. The larvae feeds on 39 host species of legume crops. The seasonal incidence of spotted pod borer differed from crop to crop and season to season. However, the peak incidence of larvae was observed at flowering and pod development stage in different pulse crops. Female moths lays flat scaly eggs on floral buds, flowers, leaves, leaf axils, terminal shoots and tender pods. Larvae are translucent with dark brown spots on each segment and larval period lasted from 11 to 21 days and the duration of total life cycle varied from 27 to 36 days on different hosts. The efficacy of chemical insecticides belonging to different groups against spotted pod borer was well established on different pulse crops. Neem products such as neem seed kernel extract (NSKE) or neem oil and biocides like Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) showed different levels of efficacy on different crops.

Incidence, bionomics and management of spotted pod borer [Maruca vitrata (Geyer)] in major pulse crops in India-A review

<div>Background: Rice brown spot disease is caused by the fungus Bipolaris oryzae (Breda de Haan), which is one of the most significantly devastating diseases in rice. Nowadays, biological control agents and plant extracts as botanical fungicides are used to develop an alternative method to control this disease and reduce the use of synthetic fungicides. Therefore, the efficacy levels of Hydnocarpus anthelminthicus Pierre ex Laness., Crateva magna (Lour.) DC., Caesalpinia sappan L., Xanthophyllum lanceatum J. J. Sm. and Carallia brachiata (Lour.) Merr. crude extracts were tested in vitro against B. oryzae and their control of rice brown spot disease under greenhouse conditions.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: Five plants namely; H. anthelminthicus, C. magna, C. sappan, X. lanceatum and C. brachiata were cleaned with tap water and air dried at 28&plusmn;2&deg;C then cut into small pieces and ground into fine powder and stored at 4&deg;C until used. Plant crude extracts was prepared using ethanol as solvent.&nbsp; 
 
Result: The results showed that the H. anthelminthicus crude extract showed the best antifungal activity against B. oryzae at the highest dose tested, causing 93% mycelial growth inhibition. Under greenhouse testing, the application of the H. anthelminthicus, X. lanceatum, C. brachiata, C. magna and C. sappan crude extracts at a concentration of 50,000 ppm effectively suppressed and reduced rice brown spot incidence caused by B. oryzae when applied once 30 days after transplanting (DAT). Interestingly, the H. anthelminthicus crude extract at a concentration of 10,000 ppm displayed the greatest suppression of the development of rice brown spot disease in terms of disease incidence when applied twice 30 DAT and 45 DAT compared with unprotected control. The results of this study indicated that H. anthelminthicus could provide botanical fungicide protection against rice brown spot disease to reduce the use of synthetic fungicides.</div>

In vivo Testing of Plant Extracts in Controlling Rice Brown Spot Disease Through Folia Application

Chalky spot damage on red lentil is the most important problem waiting for a solution regarding plant health at lentil cultivation in Southeast Anatolia Region, Turkey. The stink bugs, Piezedorus lituratus (F.) and Dolycorus baccarum L. were subjected to trials in cages and in sprayed and unsprayed plot trials in open lentil fields and fields containing windrowed lentils after harvesting. The study revealed that P. lituratus and D. baccarum feeding on red lentil caused chalky spot damage. Average damage to lentil seeds caused by P. lituratus was 13% and 7.8% and by D. baccarum was 4.9% and 2% in 2010 and 2011, respectively. There was a positive relation between P. lituratus density and chalky spot damage (r =0.788, r2 =0.621, P=0.000). The study also showed that after the harvesting, the stink bugs gathered under windrowed lentils and continued feeding and causing chalky spot damage. The damage in unsprayed windrowed lentils (6.60%) was approximately 12-fold higher than that in sprayed windrowed lentils (0.57%). Study suggests conduction of future work on environmental friendly control methods of stink bugs and alternative harvesting methods.

Chalky spot damage caused by stink bugs on red lentil seeds&nbsp;in Southeast Anatolia Region, Turkey&nbsp;

<div>Background: The pulses are important crop of Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. Among the pulses, mungbean is an important. Despite the multifaceted importance of this crop, its production could not be stabilized in the Uttar Pradesh as well as in the country due to several biotic constraints like diseases and insect-pests leading to considerable yield losses. Among several diseases affecting mungbean, cercospora leaf spot (CLS) caused by Cercospora canescens Ellis and Martin is one of the most important fungal diseases occurring regularly in the mungbean growing areas during the warm and humid weather. 
 
Methods: Experiments were conducted during two cropping seasons i.e. Kharif 2019 and 2020 to find out an efficient management strategy for this disease. In first experiment, 9 fungicides were assessed against CLS during both the seasons. In second experiment, 200 germplasm of mungbean were evaluated for resistance against cercospora leaf spot. 
 
Result: Among nine different fungicide treatments evaluated individually and as well as in combinations, spraying Carbendazim twice after first appearance of symptoms and second at 15 days&rsquo; interval, gave maximum reduction in the incidence and severity of Cercospora leaf spot i.e. 45.57% and 58.45%, respectively along with significant enhancement (53.39%) in grain yield over the unprotected crop followed by treatment with Carbendazim + Mancozeb which resulted in 35.44% and 52.65% reduction in incidence and severity respectively and 44.88% enhancement in yield. Treatment with Captan + Hexaconazole was found to be least effective to reduce the disease incidence/ severity as well as to increase the crop yield. In second field experiment out of 200 mungbean genotypes evaluated against cercospora leaf spot during two consecutive crop seasons, four genotypes viz., PDM 04-123, PDM 54, EC520034-1 and EC 520022 were found to be resistant against cercospora leaf spot disease.&nbsp;</div>

Management of Cercospora Leaf Spot of Mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] using Fungicides and Host Resistance in Bundelkhand Region of Uttar Pradesh, India

<div>Background: Cercospora leaf spot of mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.)] caused by Cercospora canescens. It has become a severe menace to the growers of Rajasthan in India and in general causes economic losses under changing climatic scenario. Depending upon the temperature and humidity, it spreads rapidly in susceptible varieties causing premature defoliation and reduction in size of pods and grains. In this study management was taken through botanicals and fungicides is also an important segment in the present era, in view of hazards caused by toxic chemicals or being developed resistance in pathogens to fungicides and effective means for disease control. 
 
Methods: In this field-laboratory investigation during kharif 2018 and kharif 2019 at Agronomy Farm, Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The experiment was conducted for seven plant extracts at 5, 10 and 15 per cent concentrations were evaluated in vitro by poisoned food technique. In field experiments, further these fungicides applied as different concentrations viz., 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% and plant extracts (at 10% conc.) were assessed by two foliar applications to control the disease. 
 
Result: Experiment was carried out in laboratory and field condition. In Plant extracts, the 100 per cent inhibition of mycelial growth was obtained with garlic extract at 10% concentration. In field conditions, two foliar applications of Hexaconazole (0.1%) were proved the most effective in reducing disease intensity (55.58%) and in increasing crop yield (56.50%) followed by Hexaconazole + Captan. In plant extracts, garlic extract (10%) proved superior in reducing disease intensity (52.85%) and in increasing crop yield (33.96%) followed by neem leaf extract.</div>

Management Strategies using Phytoextracts and Fungicides Against Cercospora Leaf Spot of Mungbean Incited by Cercospora canescens under in vitro and in vivo Conditions