. The isolate was maintained on malt extract agar (MEA) slant at 4 ◦C.
For in vitro trials, a conidial suspension was prepared by washing the colonies of pathogen with sterile distilled water containing 0.05% (v/v) Tween 80, and the concentration of suspension was quantified using a hemacytometer and diluted to a final concentration of 103 conidia mL−1.