POD YIELD AND STEM ROT EVALUATION OF PEANUT CULTIVARS TREATED WITH TEBUCONAZOLE

Tebuconazole a-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-1-ethanol] has be en registered by the U,S. Environmental Protection Agency for use in p eanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) production as a new sterol-inhibiting fung icide, under the trade name Folicur 3,6F, It is labeled to be used as four consecutive sprays between two applications of non-sterol-inhibit ing fungicides for control of Phaeoisariopsis personata (Perk, & M.A. Curtis) Arx [syn. Cercosporidium personatum (Perk, & M.A. Curtis) Deig hton], Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc,, and Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, The comb ination of such new fungicides with improved peanut cultivars could be very beneficial for integrated pest management (IPM) practices. In 19 92 to 1994, yield tests were conducted at the University of Georgia Co astal Plain Experiment Station following recommended applications of t ebuconazole to determine which 10 runner-type and 6 virginia-type pean ut cultivars had the highest pod yield and the lowest incidence of sou thern stem rot or white mold caused by S. rolfsii when grown with and without irrigation, Stem rot incidence was approximately twice as high in the irrigated as in the nonirrigated tests, and the highest incide nce of stem rot was observed in the gear with the greatest frequency o f irrigation, The Georgia Browne and Georgia Green cultivars had the g reatest yields and lowest stem rot incidence among the runner types, a nd Georgia Green had the greatest dollar value of all cultivars under both irrigated and nonirrigated conditions, Among the virginia types, NC 10C consistently had the highest incidence of stem rot over all 3 y r, and NC 7, VA-C 92R, and NC-V 11 had the greatest yields, These resu lts show that certain runner and virginia-type peanut cultivars perfor m significantly better than others using the current recommended appli cation of tebuconazole.