EFFICACY OF BOTANICALS AGAINST ALTERNARIA CAUSING FRUIT ROT IN TOMATO (Lycopersicum esculentum) BY USING PLANT EXTRACTS
NOWSHEEN HASSAN *
Division of Environmental Sciences, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar-190 025 Srinagar Jammu and Kashmir, India.
ASMAT RASHID
Division of Environmental Sciences, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar-190 025 Srinagar Jammu and Kashmir, India.
. SHAFIQ-UR-REHMAN
Division of Environmental Sciences, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar-190 025 Srinagar Jammu and Kashmir, India .
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The in vitro assaying of aqueous extracts of five different plants viz., Allium cepa, Allium sativum, Curcuma longa, Mentha spicata and Zingiber officinale was tested at different concentrations viz.,10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 per cent in comparison with control (without extracts) in the laboratory for their efficacy against the pathogen Alternaria alternata using Poison Food Technique. All tested plant extracts were found to produce the antifungal activities although the rate of inhibition of test fungus varied with the different plant extracts and concentrations. The results revealed that all the tested plant extracts inhibited growth of pathogenic fungus but Allium sativum has shown best antifungal activity at all the concentrations against the pathogenic fungi. It was also observed that the effectiveness of extracts increased with the increase in extract concentration and the maximum inhibition in mycelial growth was found at highest concentration.
Keywords: Environmental factors, fungi, pathogenic, plant extracts, tomato