Exploring Natural Solutions: Botanical Approaches for Controlling Early Blight in Tomato Plants under Laboratory Conditions
Priyanka Dole
Department of Plant Pathology and Agricultural Microbiology, College of Agriculture, Pune-411005, Maharashtra, India and Department of Plant Pathology and Agricultural Microbiology, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri-413722, Maharashtra, India.
Digvijay Rajaram Chavan
Department of Plant Pathology and Agricultural Microbiology, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri-413722, Maharashtra, India.
Mukta Joshi
Department of Plant Pathology and Agricultural Microbiology, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri-413722, Maharashtra, India.
Shriram Mahadev Mhaske *
Department of Horticulture, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri-413722, Maharashtra, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Around the world, Alternaria solani is the culprit behind the deadly and devastating early blight of tomatoes. To control the mycelial growth of A. solani in this investigation, a concentration of 10% for each plant extract was examined using the poison food technique. In comparison to the control, the pathogen mycelial growth was greatly suppressed by all examined extracts. With a 90.54% inhibition at 10% concentration, garlic clove extract proved to be the most successful of the extracts. Other extracts that showed promise were neem leaf extract (87.83%), ginger (83.78%), eucalyptus (75.67%), bael (71.67%), onion bulb extract (68.67%), and ashwagandha (63.51%). On the other hand, with a mycelial growth of 35 mm and 52.70% inhibition, lantana proved to be the least successful. After seven days of incubation at 24°C, the chemical fungicide mancozeb proved to be the most effective overall, offering a 93.24% inhibition at a 0.25% dose. Chemicals pose health dangers even though farmers use them extensively to control tomato rot. This study provides useful information for farmers by highlighting appropriate plant extracts as less risky substitutes for treating tomato early blight.
Keywords: Early blight of tomato, Alternaria solani, plant extracts, natural fungicides, biological control, garlic clove extract, neem leaf extract