Management of Sugarcane Smut Disease using Triazole Fungicides and Synthetic Elicitors

Abstract

Sugarcane smut caused by Sporisorium scitamineum is a devastating disease of sugarcane. As a management strategy, seed sets of resistant varieties treat with fungicides after the hot water treatment. As a novel management strategy, we evaluated the possibility of using low concentrations of fungicides and synthetic elicitors under in vitro and field conditions. Three fungicides (i.e. Tebuconazole, Hexaconazole, and Metalaxyl 8 % + Mancozeb 64 % WP) and two synthetic elicitors (i.e. salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA)) were tested in vitro at four concentrations (i.e. 250, 500, 750, and 1000 ppm) for their efficacy on inhibition of the germination of smut teliospores. Tebuconazole, Hexaconazole,