Abstract

The western Vidarbha region experiences vast changes in climate particularly during flowering and fruiting of mango and causes high yield losses due to powdery mildew and malformation incidence caused by extreme weather conditions during the current years. Hence, the present study was conducted to study the influence of weather parameters on powdery mildew and malformation incidence in different mango cultivars and to find out the superior cultivar against powdery mildew and malformation incidence under western Vidarbha condition of Maharashtra. In this regard, a field experiment was conducted during mango seasons of 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 at Faculty of Horticulture, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, Maharashtra. The experiment was laid out in randomised block design with five replications. The cultivars were considered as a factor and each tree under study as a replication. The results revealed that lower powdery mildew incidence was observed in cv. Dashehari (31.92%). However, the higher powdery mildew incidence was noted in cv. Vanraj (47.89%), Similarly, the lower malformation incidence was recorded in cv. Dashehari (1.62%) which was at par with cvs. Mallika, Neelum and Amrapali while it was severe in cv. Pairi (4.79%). All the studied cultivars showed varying response in relation to the powdery mildew and malformation incidence. It can be concluded that in mango cv. Dashehari followed by Mallika and Amrapali, the presence or absence of symptoms caused by the powdery mildew had no such effect on the fruit yield.