Efficacy of botanicals against Alternaria solani causing early blight of tomato

Abstract

Tomato is one of the commercial vegetable crops, being affected with many diseases, among which early blight caused by Alternaria solani resulting in huge yield loss. As an alternative to the agro chemicals, botanicals were widely adopted owing to its eco friendliness. Several botanical extracts were prepared and screened against this seed borne pathogen. All treatment showed the varied antifungal activity against the pathogen. Among the screened botanicals percent growth inhibition of pathogen was higher in zimmu leaf extract (89%). Plant biometric observations viz., seed germination (94%) and seedling vigor (2383) was maximum with lower percent disease index (12%) was recorded in zimmu leaf extract treated seeds and seedlings of tomato cultivar PKM 1.