Advances in Research

Pennisetum glaucum (L.), pearl millet Known by most as bajra, it is a significant warm-season grain that is mostly farmed in India under rainfed circumstances. In India, downy mildew caused by Sclerospora graminicola (Sacc.) Schroet is the most common and deadly disease affecting pearl millet. Two weeks after seeding, the illness was visible as chlorotic stripes on the leaf surface advanced from the base to the top. Most infected plants were unable to develop typical, healthy earheads. The bioagents that were examined as seed dressers were Trichoderma harzianum (6 g/kg seed), Pseudomonas fluorescens (8 g/kg seed), Trichoderma viride (6 g/kg seed), and neem oil and water. The downy mildew disease incidence was significantly reduced (2.83%) by the fungicides Mancozeb at 0.2%, Neem oil, Metalaxyl at 0.25%, and Carbendazim at 0.25%, as compared to the control, which had a documented disease incidence of 40.33%. Neem oil considerably outperformed all evaluated bioagent seed dressings for downy mildew prevention, including the seed dressing containing Pseudomonas fluorescens seed treatment at 8 g/kg seed was statistically comparable to Trichoderma harzianum seed treatment at 6 g/kg seed and Metalaxyl application at 0.25%. The downy mildew was also greatly reduced by foliar application of Mancozeb at 0.2 % and seed treatment with Metalaxyl (6 g/kg seed) + spray of Propiconazole at 25% EC at 0.25%; these two methods outperformed the seed dressing with all evaluated bioagents. The positive outcome of using neem oil topically suggests that, when it comes to managing downy mildew in pearl millet in an environmentally benign manner, it might replace fungicides.