Antifungal activity of some botanicals extracts against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. pisi a causal agent of wilt of pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Abstract

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is an important cash as well as pulse crop in India. Wilt diseases caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. pisi has reported as one of serious threat to the crop production affects plant growth and yield. In the present study antifungal activity of four botanical extracts i.e., Neem (Azadirachta indica), Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) and Ginger (Zingiber officinale) were tested in in-vitro condition against wilt F. oxysporum isolated from diseased plants of pea. Three replicates of different concentrations of the botanical extract viz 5, 15 and 25 per cent were tested against the pathogenic fungus, respectively, using Poison food technique. Result showed that growth of fungal mycelia was inhibited with increase in concentration of botanical extract. Lemongrass extract (25%) inhibited the maximum (35.93%) growth of fungal mycelia followed by Neem extract (32.59) and Ginger extract (27.78%) with Eucalyptus extract showed minimum inhibition (25.19%).