Wheat Yield Response to Foliar Fungicide Application against Leaf Rust Caused by Puccinia triticina

A study was conducted on reducing the yield loss of wheat due to leaf rust caused by Puccinia triticina with foliar application of fungicides during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 growing seasons at the Wheat Research Institute in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Three fungicides: Folicur (tebuconazole) at 300 mL/ha, Nativo (tebuconazole + trifloxystrobin) at 300 g/ha and Tilt (propiconazole) at 500 mL/ha were applied single or two times to Morocco and Sehar-06 wheat varieties used in the trial. The trial plots were first sprayed at the Zadok’s scale (ZS) 3 stage and second sprayed between ZS 4.3 and 5.4 stages. The greenness of the trial crop was measured using GreenSeeker. Foliar application of fungicides significantly reduced the loss of grain yield and 1,000-grain weight (TGW) of wheat due to leaf rust in comparison to the control without fungicides application. Of the three fungicides, two times spray of Nativo reduced the grain yield loss of leaf rust susceptible mega wheat variety Sehar-06 by 45%-56% and the loss of TGW by 42%, also giving the highest marginal return in the trial. Single application of Nativo was equally effective as two times spray of Folicur in reducing the loss of wheat grain yield. Two times spray of Folicur was found to be the second choice of fungicide for reducing the yield loss of wheat. The research identified suitable fungicides for reducing the yield loss of wheat due to leaf rust and also generated important scientific knowledge required to manage a sudden outbreak of leaf rust to ensure food security.