Integrated management of diseases and pests:

I. General precautions:

•  Select the resistant and well adopted varieties for specific areas.
•  Select the clean and diseased free seeds.
•  Proper agronomical practices like optimum planting time and seedling age, planting geometry, depth of planting, etc.
•  Good water management for example at the time of attack of insects and diseases, water should be drained out.

II. Field preparation:

• Apply FYM pre-colonized with Trichoderma harzianum (TH) or Pseudomonas fluorescens (PsF). For the precolonization of FYM, TH/PsF is to be added at monthly interval in FYM pits @ 100 g/pit or Pant Bio-agent-3 @ 1.0kg/pit. These pits should be covered with sugarcane leaves or rice straw. Water should be sprayed at regular intervals (at least once after bioagent application) and 15 and 7 days before FYM use to maintain moisture.

• Planting of green manure crops should be done. Spray Trichoderma harzianum and Pseudomonas fluorescens @ each 5g/liter of water just at the time of incorporation of green manure crop.

III. At nursery sowing time:

• Seed treatment with salted water followed by Trichoderma harzianum and Pseudomonas fluorescens @ 5 g each /kg seed or Pant Bio-agent-3 @ 10g/kg seed.
• Seed bio-priming with Pseudomonas fluorescens (PsF) (10 g per kg seed).
• Apply one pheromone trap for stem borer per 100 m² nursery area.
• Release Trichogramma japonicum or T. chilonis @150000 parasitoids/ha.

  III. During transplanting:

• Drenching of PsF (1 g/ m²) in nursery soil one day before uprooting of seedlings or dipping of roots of seedlings in suspension of PsF (5g/l).
• Avoid planting under full or partial shade to avoid bacterial blight (BLB). Once BLB attacks plants in shade these plants become source of inoculums for remaining field.

                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                             Fig: Pheromone trap

III. After transplanting till maturity

• Use pheromone traps (5 mg pheromone per trap; 20 traps/ha; 20 x 25 m distance) within a week of transplanting for stem borer and replace lure after 30 days. Maintain height of trap at 50 cm in nursery and early stage of the crop. As a plant grows height of the traps should be raised so as they are all the time approx. 30 cm above crop canopy.
• Avoid water stagnation and at the time of attack of insects and diseases water must be drained out from the field.
• Spray 10% cow urine mixed with neem leaves one week before use. The spray of cow urine should be started 25 days after transplanting and subsequently 3-4 spray at 15 days interval.
• Spray 5% vermiwash /compost tea treated with Trichoderma harzianum and Pseudomonas fluorescens
• Spray mixed formulation of compatible strains of PsF and Trichoderma harzianum (TH) (5g each per liter of water) or Pant Bio Agent-3 (10 g/l) at panicle initiation for sheath blight, sheath rot & neck blast. One to two sprays are to be given at weekly interval.