Journal of Cereal Research 13(2): 211-214 Homepage: http://epubs.icar.org.in/ejournal/index.php/JWR Short Communication Comparative evaluation of different fungicides and bio-agents for management of spot blotch of barley caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana (Sace. Ex Sorok) Javed Bahar Khan, Sugam Katiyar, Charul Kanchan, Jitendra Kumar and Pravir Kumar Gupta* Section of Rabi Cereals, C.S.Azad. Univ. of Agri. & Tech. Kanpur (UP)-208002 Article history: Received: 11 Dec., 2020 Revised: 13 June, 2021 Accepted: 15 Aug., 2021 Citation: Khan JB, S Katiyar, C Kanchan, J Kumar and PK Gupta. 2021. Comparative evaluation of different fungicides and bio-agents for management of spot blotch of Barley Caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana (Sace. Ex Sorok). Journal of Cereal Research 13(2): 211-214. http://doi.org/10.25174/2582-2675/2021/114191 *Corresponding author: pkguptacsau@rediffmail.com © Society for Advancement of Wheat and Barley Research Keywords: Difenconazole, Hordeum vulgare, Per cent growth inhibition, Psudomonas fuorescens, Systemic fungicide, Trichoderm harzianum. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L) is one of the frst domesticated cereal crop after maize, rice and wheat, which contributes 5.5-6.0% of the global cereals and 11.5-12 per cent of the coarse cereals production (Pal et al. 2012, Kumar et al. 2013b, Kumar et al. 2014). Barley is used as food crop in many countries of Africa, Middle East, South America and Asia. During 2019-20 in India, the area under the crop was 0.62 million hectare, productivity 25.73 q/ha with a production of 1.59 million metric tonns (Anonnymous 2019-20). In India, barley is an important coarse cereal crop being grown in Rabi (winter) season in Northern plains. Barley occupies area in 10 states viz. Himanchal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan (Randhir Singh et al. 2014). Malt is the second largest use of barley and among cereals, barley is preferred for Kernel and its enzymatic activity (α and β amylase mainly) (Shaveta et al. 2019). The utilization of barley for malting and brewing industry has increased recently with the increase in consumption of beer, health drinks and other malt based products in India (Randhir Singh et al. 2014). Currently it has received attention of research workers to boost its production through the adoption of new technology and high yielding varieties. Like other cereals, barley is also exposed to various diseases which are ultimately responsible for signifcant yield reduction and poor grain quality. Barley is exposed to several biotic stresses, however, some of these are rust, spot blotch, net blotch, powdery mildew, loose smut and covered smut (Gangwar et al. 2018). Among these, spot blotch caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana is an important fungal disease causing severe losses up to 25-30 per cent reduction in grain yield and also reduces the grain quality (Randhir Singh et al. 2014). Keeping in view, the importance of disease, especially with reference to the state of Uttar Pradesh, it is better to have management well in advance. The management of disease can be done through cultural practices and use of resistant genotype, but there is need for effcient management of disease with eco-friendly means. In vitro, six systemic fungicides against Bipolaris sorokininia viz; Propiconazole, Tebuconazole, Azoxystrobin, Difenconazole, Azoxystrobin + Difenconazole and Mancozeb and fve bio-agents viz. T.viride-1, T. viride-2, T. harzianum-1, T. harzianum-2 and Pseudomonas fuorescens were tested against the pathogen to fnd out their relative effcacy in inhibiting the growth of fungus in culture in four dilutions (25 ppm, 50 ppm, 100 ppm and 200 ppm) using 211