Impact of Crop Rotation on Cercospora Leaf Spot of Peanut

Abstract

Among various diseases in peanut Cercospora Leaf spot (CLS) is the most detrimental leads to reduced yield in peanut crop. CLS build up in the soil when the same crop is cultivated in the same plot year after year. Rotation with non-host crop is a cultural practice that decreases inoculum load which ultimately control disease in next year crop. A field experiment was conducted to study impact of duration of crop rotation to control CLS. Sowing peanut crop in fallow land aiming at to mitigate disease impact on yield and yield parameters. Sowing of peanut crop in fallow land or in land with one- or two-years rotation of non-host crop of Cercospora leaf spot delayed disease initiation from 58 to108 days and gave better yields than plots with left over seed of previous year. Lesser infection % increase rates in field with one-year rotation (13.91) and two years (11.72%) were observed. Among the yield parameters 100 pods (unshelled) weight remained significantly higher in plots in fallow land during both years. Hundred pods weight in one- and two-year rotations were at par with each other.