Mulberry root rot disease which is caused by
Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht is one of the most serious disease, because mulberry is perennial crop and the pathogen is soil borne in its habitat. Twenty locally available botanicals were opted to
screen against the pathogen in laboratory conditions namely
Amorphophallus campanulatusBlume.,Artocarpus heterophyllus
Lamk.,Azadirachta indicaA. Juss., Calotropis gigantea
R.Br.,Calotropis procera(Ait)R.Br.,Carica papayaLinn.,CassiaauriculataLinn.,Cathranthus roseous(L.) G. Don.,Citrus limon(Linn.) Rurm.f.,Eucalyptusglobulus Labill.,EuphorbiahirtaLinn.,Gliricidia maculata(Kunth) Kunth.,Lawsonia inermisLinn.,Michelia champacaLinn.,
Muntingia caliburaL.,Pongamia pinnata(Linn.) Merr.,
Psidium guajavaLinn.,Syzygium cumini(Linn.) Skeels.,
Tagetes patulaL., andTerminaliacatappaL.
The aqueousextracts of the plant materials were prepared to test their efficacy againstF. oxysporum
by ‘sporegermination method’ and ‘poison food technique’. All the aqueous plant extracts showed inhibition in spore germination and mycelial growth in varying degrees excluding
A. heterophyllus(it enhances the growth of the pathogen). Some of them were very effective, while others are moderate and less effective.
P. guajava has recorded maximum inhibition in both spore germination and in mycelia growth with 96.3% and
86.5% respectfully, followed by L. inermis
with 95.7% and 85.1% in spore germination and mycelia growth respectively. Where as,A. indica showed 90.7% inhibition in spore germination and 67.7% in
mycelia growth.P. pinnata showed 81.1% spore and 63.4% mycelia growth inhibition and is followed by
C. procerawith61.1% inhibition in spore germination and 67.3% in mycelia growth. Further, the promising results obtained from somebotanicals during
in vitroevaluation will be tested in field conditions
