Effect of Propiconazole (Tilt) and pruning on severity of Black Sigatoka disease And yield of plantain

Abstract

The use of Propiconazole (Tilt) and pruning to control Black Sigatoka disease in plantain was tested from March 1995 to April 1997 at Kade, Ghana. There were four treatments: Tilt application alone, Pruning alone, Tilt + Pruning, and Control in a randomised complete block design. Expressed as percentage total leaf area attacked, disease severity was 16 (13.1-19) for the control treatment while it was 4.6 (2.9-6.2), 5.1 (3.7-6.4), and 3.8 (2.5-5.0) for Tilt, Pruning, and Tilt plus Pruning, respectively. The control was significantly different from the other three treatments which were, however, not different from each other at P = 0.05. At the 44th week after transplanting, the youngest leaf with symptom (YLWS) was on the average the 6th leaf for Tilt while it was 4th, 5th, and 3rd for Pruning, Tilt + Pruning, and Control, respectively. It meant that the plants treated with Tilt appeared healthier than the control. The total number of bunches harvested after 66 weeks were 47, 54, 50, and 52 with bunch weights of 249.1, 453.0, 392.2, and 405.0 kg for Control, Tilt, Pruning, and Tilt + Pruning, respectively. The Control was significantly different from the other treatments which were, however, not different from each other at P = 0.05. Correlation analysis indicated a negative but significant association (r = -0.96) between severity of disease and yield. The results show that pruning and burning of diseased leaves can be used as an alternative to fungicide application to control Black Sigatoka on plantain.


Ghana Jnl.agric. Sci Vol.32(1), 1999: 87-94