Evaluation of Management Strategies for Sheath Blight of Paddy in Relation to Yield and Cost Benefit Ratio

Abstract

A two-year field experiment was conducted during the kharif seasons of 2024 and 2025 at the Department of Plant Pathology, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS), Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, to evaluate chemical, biological, integrated and silicon-based management practices for their effects on grain yield and economic returns. The treatments included propiconazole, Trichoderma viride, T. asperellum, T. harzianum, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus subtilis, their combinations with propiconazole, and silicon-based treatments. Grain yield varied from 35.10 to 52.67 q ha⁻¹ in 2024 and from 34.97 to 52.97 q ha⁻¹ in 2025. In pooled analysis, propiconazole 0.2% ST + SD + FS (T1) recorded the highest grain yield of 52.82 q ha⁻¹ and the highest C: B ratio of 1.89. Among the integrated treatments, T. asperellum + propiconazole (T8) and T. viride + propiconazole (T7) recorded pooled grain yields of 49.04 and 48.84 q ha⁻¹, respectively, with C: B ratios of 1.71. Among the individual biological treatments, T. viride recorded the highest pooled grain yield (47.19 q ha⁻¹), while potassium silicate produced 47.65 q ha⁻¹. All evaluated treatments produced higher grain yields than the untreated control (35.04 q ha⁻¹). The study demonstrated that propiconazole provided the highest grain productivity and economic return, while integration of Trichoderma with propiconazole also produced consistently high yields and economic benefits.