Evaluation of Fungicide against Taro Leaf Blight Disease Caused by Phytophthora colocasiae in Three Agro-Ecological Zones of Cameroon

Abstract

Globally the taro leaf blight (Phytophthora colocasiae) disease causes between 50 to 70% yield loss. Four taro landraces were planted in three agroecological zones of Cameroon; the Western Highlands (Bambui), Mono-Modal Humid Forest (Ekona), and the Bimodal Humid Forest (Nkolbisson) and evaluated for taro blight severity in four successive growing seasons in March and July, 2018 and 2019. Different concentrations of copper oxide (600 g)–Metalaxyl (120 g) fungicide were applied to control taro blight before and during plant growth. Results showed that, in all the field sites, the disease severity of Phytophthora colocasiae greatly decreased below 1.5 with varying concentrations of copper oxide (600 g)–Metalaxyl (120 g) fungicide applied at two-week intervals. The control field at Ekona recorded the highest taro blight severity of 7.8. There was no significant difference in taro blight severity (P≤0.05) between landraces treated with the different concentrations of copper oxide (600 g)–Metalaxyl (120 g) fungicide. Therefore, lower concentrations (0.33% and 0.27%) of copper oxide (600 g)–Metalaxyl (120 g) can be effectively used in the pre and post control of taro blight in the field. All the landraces in the screen house experiments were susceptible to P. colocasiae. In all the zones, Landrace L2 (red petiole small leaves) was highly resistant to P. colocasiae and should be recommended to farmers for optimum taro production in the three agro-ecological zones and zones with similar characteristics.