EFFECT OF SOIL SOLARIZATION ON CORN STALK ROT

Seven weeks solarization of irrigated soil raised its temperature by 1 1.5 degrees C over non-solarized soil at 10 cm depth and effectively c ontrolled weeds (98.5%), stalk borer (8.9%) and stalk rot disease (69. 1%) in corn. Solarization also reduced symptoms of Fusarium moniliform e and Macrophomina phaseolina significantly by 64.2% and 78.4% respect ively, and completely controlled M. phaseolina in corn cultivars, viz. Pool-10, Shaheen and Gauher. Whereas symptoms of F. moniliforme were observed in these cultivars, Fusarium graminearum was not observed exc ept in two cultivars, Shaheen and Akbar. Growth of crop planted in sol arized plots was better and it yielded almost one to three times more grains in cultivars under test. Soil analysis immediately following so larization revealed that essential elements were readily available in simpler forms, which may have increased pest resistance and reduced st alk breakage.