Management of spot blotch of barley through different dates of sowing and chemical and organic amendments

Spot blotch caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana is one of the most serious diseases of barley in tropical areas where barley and wheat are grown. A field experiment was conducted at Regional Research Station Masodha, ANDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh during Rabi season. To evaluate the effect of different dates of sowing and chemical and organic amendments on spot blotch and consequently on seed quality of barley. The experiment was conducted during the Rabi season 2016-17 under hotspot area of spot blotch. RD-2794 was sown in a split plot manner with two dates of sowing.The experiment was performed in split plot design with three replications comprising two different dates of sowing, i.e. mid- November (D1 ) and mid-December (D2 ) in the main plot and chemical and organic amendments viz., RDF (60N:30P:20K kg/ hectare) -T1 , FYM @ 5 t/h-T2 , T1 + Mulch@ 6 t/h-T3 , T1 + FYM @ 5t/hec + Mulch @ 6t/ hec.-T4 , T4 + 2 spray of zinc sulphate @ 0.5 %-T5 , T4 + 2 spray of KCl @0.5%-T6 and T5 + 2 spray of KCl @ 0.5 %-T7 in the sub plot. Results revealed that minimum disease severity (46.9%) with maximum disease control (39.98%) and per cent seed infection (5.5%) were recorded in D1 × T7 . The interpretation of data revealed that there was highly positive and significant correlation (r=0.95) between disease severity and per cent seed infection. The maximum 1000-seed weight (43.41g) and yield (38.67 q/ha) with maximum yield gain (57.25%) was also recorded in D1 × T7 . The same treatment combination was also useful in maximizing the seed quality in terms of seed viability (98%), Germination (97%), seedling length (27.30cm) and vigour index-I (2648.153) when the freshly harvested seeds were tested in seed testing laboratory. Spot blotch is a serious disease of barley spreads primarily through infected seeds and reduced the yield up to 30%. The disease can be minimized by sowing the crop timely i.e. mid-November with recommended dose of fertilizers + FYM @ 5 t/ha+ Mulch@ 6 t/ha+ 2 spray of zinc sulphate @ 0.5 % + 2 spray of KCl @ 0.5 % at flag leaf and post anthesis stage which improves the seed quality.