EVALUATION OF FUNGICIDES AGAINST PHYTOPHTHORA AND FUSARIUM (root rot spp.) OF CITRUS ROOTSTOCKS SEEDLINGS

Citrus is one of the most important fruit crop in the world and is usually grown through grafting technique. Rootstock is one of the significant part in grafted plants and has crutial effect on production, including yield, fruit quality, tree size, tolerance to salts and diseases, and scion compatibility. Citrus is susceptible to several fungal pathogens causing incalculable losses to the crop. Among all soil-borne fungal pathogens, Phytophthora and Fusarium cause the most severe damage to the nursery or orchards plants. This research was planned to evaluate the effectiveness of fungicides as soil drenching and root dipping to control Phytophthora and Fusarium attacking citrus rootstock seedlings at the nursery stage. Different physiological and morphological parameters were studied in the infected plants and data were compared with that of control. The data were recorded and compared concerning rootstock seed and seeding response using standard measures and statistical analysis. The results showed that plants inoculated with Phytophthora and Fusarium root rot spp.when treated with Aliette and Ridomil Gold showed maximum root shoot ratio, fresh dry weight ratio, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, water potential and transpiration rate as compared to untreated plants. The results also depicted that plants treated with Aliette and Ridomil Gold through soil drenching have maximum root shoot ratio, fresh dry weight ratio, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate as compared to root dipped plants. Keywords: Fungal diseases, pathogens, root rot, nursery plants.