bajra pearl millet downy mildew green ear seed treatment metalaxyl rogue
How do I control downy mildew (green ear) in bajra after sowing?
MMahaveer Choudhary9mo ago · 344 views
4 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓8mo ago
Downy mildew, which causes the green ear or leafy malformed head in bajra, is best stopped before it starts because there is no good cure once plants are infected. Use a downy mildew resistant hybrid, treat seed with metalaxyl based fungicide before sowing, and rogue out infected plants showing pale yellow streaked leaves or green leafy heads early and destroy them so they do not spread spores. Avoid continuous bajra on the same field, follow crop rotation, and remove volunteer and infected plants from field edges. Balanced nutrition and good plant stand help, but resistant hybrids plus seed treatment are the backbone of control. If you save your own seed, the risk is higher, so prefer fresh treated certified seed of a resistant hybrid.
RRamniwas8mo ago
The green leafy heads spread when I reused old seed. Switching to a resistant hybrid with seed treatment almost ended it.
DDharmpal7mo ago
In Haryana I now change the hybrid every couple of years on my KVK's advice, because the resistance of one hybrid weakened over time and the disease crept back. Rotating both the crop and the hybrid kept it down.
MMohan Lal Saini7mo ago
One caution: pull the infected green-ear plants out by the roots and carry them off the field in a bag, do not just cut and drop them. When I left them on the bund the spores still spread to the next patch.