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Received: 17^th April 2021; Accepted: 19^th May 2021

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted at Rice Research Station, Kerala Agricultural University, Moncompu during Rabi 2018-19, Kharif2019 and Kharif 2020 under AICRIP programme for rice sheath blight control through organic essential oils. The tested essential oils were citronella oil, eucalyptus oil, cedar wood oil, nirgundi oil, lemon grass oil, clove oil, neem essential oil, emulsifier with standard check fungicide carbendazim 50 WP. The pooled analysis of three seasons showed that neem essential oil @ 2 ml/l was superior in reducing the sheath blight disease incidence (19.28 %) on par with standard check fungicide carbendazim 50 WP (21.64 %) and lemon grass oil @ 2 ml/l (23.11 %). The data on severity proved that the neem essential oil treatment resulted in less severity of sheath blight (16.32%) compared to lemon grass oil (17.85 %) and standard check fungicide carbendazim (18.91%). The neem essential oil treatment also yielded the highest (6532 kg/ha) followed by standard check fungicide carbendazim (5878 Kg/ha) and lemon grass oil (5762 kg/ha).