Efficacy of Copper Plus WP against Tomato Late Blight, Early Blight, Bacterial Spot, and Powdery Mildew at Arba Minch and Mihirab Abaya in Southern Region, Ethiopia

The study was carried out under rain-fed conditions with supplementary irrigation at Arba Minch and Mihirab Abaya in SNNPRs in 2021 to evaluate the efficacy of Copper Plus WP relative to another promising standard check bactericide, Copper oxide 77% WP, for the management of bacterial spot, late blight, early blight, and powdery mildew in tomato for registration purposes. The study consisted of three treatments and was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results showed that application of bactericide/fungicide at 14-day intervals significantly reduced mean bacterial spot (23.39%), late blight (14.90%), early blight (32.73%), and powdery mildew (9.53%) severities in the three locations. Bacterial spot, late blight, early blight, and powdery mildew had the lowest mean AUDPC values across locations, at 234.78, 297.82, 518.62, and 120.08%-days, respectively. Plots sprayed with candidate chemical had the highest mean (30,150.05 kg ha-1) marketable fruit output among the three locations. In comparison to Copper oxide 77% WP in every location, Copper Plus WP significantly reduced the epidemic development of a bacterial spot, late blight, early blight, and powdery mildew, which in turn increased tomato fruit yield. It is therefore advised to register Copper Plus WP for the treatment of these diseases as it was discovered to be quite efficient.