Abstract

Influence of dates of sowing on the incidence and severity of blast in different varieties of finger millet was studied. Magnaporthe grisea incidence during consecutive three years study indicated that July sown crop suffered less. The crop sown during early season escaped incidence of leaf, neck and finger blast in all the varieties tested. The crop sown late in the season showed severe incidence of leaf, neck and finger blast in all the varieties. Resistant varieties viz., GPU 28 and GPU 48 showed lower incidence of blast as compared to susceptible varieties viz., KM252 and K7 in all the dates of sowing. Grain yield was maximum in crops sown in July when compared to September sown crop. Varieties that had lower blast incidence recorded higher yield as compared to varieties with higher leaf, neck and finger blast incidences.

Keywords: Finger millet, blast incidence, sowing dates, Magnaporthe grisea