Prevalence and management of leaf spot and dry fruit rot (Coniella granati) of pomegranate

Leaf spot and dry fruit rot in pomegranates caused by Coniella granati (Sacc) Petrak and Sydow have emerged as a new threat in Himachal Pradesh. Survey reports indicated that per cent disease index (PDI) varied between 11.8 to 25.1 on leaves and 12.6 to 39.8 on fruits. In vitro evaluation revealed that systemic fungicides viz difenoconazole (Score 25 EC), hexaconazole (Contaf 5 EC), carbendazim (Benfil 50 WP), propiconazole (Tilt 25 EC), pyraclostrobin (Insignia 20 WG), kresoxim methyl (Ergon 44.30 w/w) and flusilazole (Governor 40 EC) at 50 ppm, combi-products namely carbendazim (12%) + mancozeb (63%) (Companion 75 WP), hexaconazole (5%) + captan (70%) (Taqat 75 WP), metiram (55%) + pyraclostrobin (5%) (Cabriotop 60 WG), carbendazim (25%) + iprodione (25%) (Quintal 50 WP), metiram (Sanit 70 WG), captan (Captafol 50 WP) and copper oxychloride (Maincop 50 WP) at 250 ppm concentration provided complete inhibition of fungal growth. Similarly out of eight bio-resources vermiwash and mixture of cow urine + Melia azadirach + Vitex negundu + Artimesia roxburghiana + Juglans regia + Azadirachta indica in equal proportion at 5 per cent concentration also completely inhibited the fungal growth. Among five biocontrol agents Bacillus subtilis and Trichoderma harzianum gave maximum growth inhibition of C granati under in vitro conditions. Field evaluation for two consecutive years (2012–13) revealed that propiconazole (0.05%) and carbendazim (0.05%) were highly effective providing 89.9 and 90.7 per cent and 89.5 and 90.3 per cent disease control on leaves and fruits respectively whereas hexaconazole + captan (0.1%), pyraclostrobin (0.05%) and difenoconazole (0.02%) were next best fungicides in order.