Morphological and Cultural Variability of Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn Isolate and Management of Banded Leaf and Sheath Blight Disease in Kodo Millet

The current study was undertaken to study the morphological and cultural characterisation of R. solani causing banded leaf and sheath blight in kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum) which were obtained from different millet growing regions of India. In vitro studies were conducted in order to study the variability on six different culture media and notable variations were observed in colony growth, time taken for sclerotial initiation, pattern of arrangement of sclerotia. Oat Meal Agar showed highest growth rate and PDA exhibited maximum sclerotial number and weight. Whereas, on the other hand a field experiment was conducted using eight treatments. The fungicide Trifloxystrobin 25% + Tebuconazole 50 % WG @ 0.05% was found to be effective with low disease incidence of 14.08 %and high grain yield of 3094.44 kg ha-1and fodder yield of 70338.39 kg ha-1 and greater B:C ratio.