09-08-2013, 03:23 PM
Role of pesticides in managing vegetable crop diseases
ABSTRACT
The present study was conducted in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts of the Jammu province to find out farmers practices regarding disease management. The villages covered under the integrated pest management (IPM) farmer field school (FFS) programme were selected for the study. Quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group and ex-post facto designs were employed for evaluating the impact of the programme. The results of the study revealed that the farmers had no clarity about most of the diseases namely black rot in cabbage and cauliflower, yellow mosaic virus and wilt in okra, little leaf of brinjal, damping off of seedling and wilt in brinjal. The farmers were unable to differentiate between the plant diseases, nutrition deficiency symptoms in the plant or any other physiological disorder in the plants. The farmers’ knowledge with respect to disease identification and management was low. In cauliflower crop, fungicides were applied by five and 10 per cent of the IPM and non-IPM farmers. In cabbage, 6.7 and 13.3 per cent of the IPM and non-IPM farmers, respectively applied fungicides. In okra, fungicides were applied by 16 and 7.1 per cent of the IPM and non-IPM farmers, respectively whereas, in brinjal 15.4 and 9.1 per cent of IPM and non-IPM farmers, respectively applied fungicides. In cauliflower, five per cent of the IPM farmers applied carbendazim that contributed 6.6 per cent to Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) whereas, ten per cent of non-IPM farmers applied carbendazim against seedling problem that contributed 11.6 per cent in EIQ value. In cabbage crop, the fungicide carbendazim belonging to carbamate family was applied by 6.7 per cent of the IPM farmers that contributed 6.4 per cent in EIQ and 13.4 per cent of the non-IPM farmers applied the same fungicide that contributed 14.6 per cent in EIQ. In okra, eight per cent of IPM farmers applied zineb and mancozeb. The fungicides mancozeb and zineb contributing six per cent to EIQ value whereas in the non-IPM villages zineb was applied by none of the farmer and mancozeb was applied by 7.1 per cent of the farmers, contributing three per cent to EIQ value. In brinjal crop, fungicides namely proprineb, and mancozeb were applied. Proprineb was applied by zero and 9.1 of the IPM and non-IPM farmers, repectively whereas mancozeb was applied by 15.4 and 9.1 per cent of the IPM and non-IPM farmers, respectively in the IPM and non-IPM villages. The fungicide mancozeb was contributing four per cent to total EIQ value in IPM villages whereas in non-IPM villages the fungicides mancozeb and propineb contributing two per cent. The share of fungicides in total pesticide use (a.i) in cauliflower and cabbage was one per cent whereas in okra and brinjal it ranged between 2 and 6 gm/ha (a.i) excluding the fungicide applied by seed companies for seed treatment. The seeds of cauliflower and okra crops that farmers produce at their own were not treated. Much emphasis needs to be given for providing treated seeds to the farmers. Except for seed treatment, pesticides (fungicides) play a minor role in disease management and plant pathologists should concentrate on host plant resistance and other IPM compatible methods.