Assessment of fungicide-based control of sheath blight using mobile spraying equipment

Sheath blight, caused by the fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia solani , is one of the major diseases affecting rice, leading to significant yield losses. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based fungicide spraying has emerged as an efficient method for disease control. In this study, the sensitivity of R . solani to six fungicides (florylpicoxamid, fludioxonil, flutolanil, ipflufenoquin, orysastrobin, and pencycuron) with different modes of action was tested in vitro . These fungicides were also tested in planta , when after exhibiting the highest efficacy, orysastrobin and flutolanil were then selected to evaluate efficacy at reduced concentrations using mobile spraying equipment (MSE). The results revealed that even at 1/4 of the original concentration, both fungicides were sufficient to control sheath blight. This study provides an optimized fungicide application method for controlling sheath blight using UAVs.