Journal of Advances in Biology & Biotechnology

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) is an important cereal crop cultivated in arid and semi-arid regions. However, various pests and diseases adversely affect its cultivation, and blast is one of the major diseases of pearl millet. Blast disease is caused by the fungus Pyricularia grisea. This study was conducted during 2022–2023 at the Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. The poisoned food technique was used to assess the efficacy of six fungicides against Pyricularia grisea. Initially, each fungicide was evaluated at three concentrations: 250, 500 and 1,000 ppm. Following the evaluation at these higher concentrations, the fungicides were also tested at 50, 100, 150 and 200 ppm to determine their inhibitory activity against Pyricularia grisea. All six fungicides completely inhibited fungal growth at 250 ppm. Among the lower concentrations, tebuconazole + trifloxystrobin was the most effective treatment, inhibiting fungal growth by 97.8% at 50 ppm and completely inhibiting growth at 100 ppm. Azoxystrobin + tebuconazole and tebuconazole alone inhibited fungal growth by 97.0% and 96.3%, respectively, at 100 ppm. Both treatments achieved complete inhibition at 150 ppm. Propiconazole + difenoconazole, azoxystrobin and propiconazole completely inhibited fungal growth at 200 ppm. Overall, these results indicate that tebuconazole + trifloxystrobin was the most effective fungicidal treatment against Pyricularia grisea under the laboratory conditions evaluated, demonstrating strong antifungal activity even at low concentrations.