Management of Septoria leaf spot disease in tomato at Bhaktapur.

A farmers' field survey was conducted during 2014 in Bhaktapur district to study socioeconomic status, agricultural practices and occurrence of Septoria Leaf Spot ( Septoria lycopersici Mill.) of tomato and its management practices using random sampling of 25 respondents. Field experiment on management of Septoria Leaf Spot was conducted in a completely randomized design (CRD) with six treatments and four replications. The six treatments were (i) Astha Killer 15 ( Azadirachta indica ) 1500 ppm, (ii) Cow Urine (@ 5% concentration of cow urine; solar activation for 48 hours), (iii) Neem (2 ml/l water) + cow urine (5%) (1:1 ratio; final solution of 2 ml/l water), (iv) Chlorothalonil @ 2.5 gm/lt water, (v) Mancozeb (@ 2.5 gm/lt water), and (vi) control (water). Majority of farmers (70%) raised seedlings by themselves. Septoria Leaf Spot disease was the third important disease after Late Blight and viral disease. Septoria Leaf Spot disease was found in farms of 84% respondents. Septoria Leaf Spot symptom was found in leaf and both in leaf and stem in 47.62% and 52.38% respondents respectively. The disease incidence in field of 85.71% respondents was since 1-2 years. Higher relative humidity, higher precipitation and higher temperature were congenial for disease development. 80% of the respondents used synthetic fungicides for controlling the disease, where Mancozeb and Chlorothalonil were used by 44% and 20% respectively. Mancozeb was found most effective in controlling disease, followed by Chlorothalonil. Among the botanical treatments, Neem (2 ml/l water) + Cow urine (5%) was found effective in disease control than other two botanical treatments.