Evaluation of fungicides and oil cakes for the management of Panama wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (FOC) in banana

The Panama wilt is highly devastating fungal diseases of banana plantains and it is caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (FOC). It causes heavy yield losses in several cultivars of banana. Six FOC isolates were collected from different areas of Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts of Tamil Nadu and the pathogen was identified as FOC based on cultural characters. This pathogen has different races which causes greater yield loss in most of the banana varieties. The seven fungicides and five oil cakes were evaluated against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (FOC). The virulent isolate was identified by the pathogenicity test and also evaluated the fungicides and oilcakes under laboratory condition. Among the seven fungicides used, the complete inhibition of mycelial growth was observed in Carbendazim at all concentrations followed by Tebuconazole + Trifloxystrobin at 500 and 1000 ppm. The other fungicides such as Propiconazole, Tebuconazole recorded 100 percent inhibition at 1000 ppm concentration followed by Hexaconazole (88.88%) and Azoxystrobin (72.22%). Copper oxy chloride at 1000 ppm recorded least mycelial reduction. The oilcakes of Neem, Mahua, Gingelly, Groundnut and Coconut were evaluated against FOC. Among the five oil cakes tested, Neem cake recorded the inhibition of 18.66 and 55.55 percent at 5 and 10 percent concentrations followed by mahua cake (16.22 and 51.33 %). Coconut cake recorded least mycelial inhibition of 3.33 and 5.77 percent at 5 and 10 percent concentrations respectively.