Antifungal effect of aqueous and cow urine extracts of native plants against Alternaria brassicicola causing leaf spot of cauliflower Sharma Shalini, Sharma Amit1, Sharma Monica* Department of Plant Pathology, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (Solan) Neri, Hamirpur-177 001 1Department of Basic Sciences, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry(Solan), Neri, Hamirpur-177 001 *E-mail: dmonicasharma@gmail.com
Online published on 10 September, 2024. Abstract Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis) is one of the most widely grown, delicious winter vegetables of the Cruciferae family. Alternaria leaf spot is the major constraint in cauliflower production. In the present study, the effect of six aqueous-based and six cow urine-based plant extracts of native plants namely Justicia adhatoda, Ocimum tenuiflorum, Tagetes erecta, Phyllanthus emblica, Vitex negundo, and Aegle marmelos at various concentrations was evaluated against Alternaria brassicicola causing leaf spot of cauliflower. Cow urine as alone was also tested to check its effectiveness against the fungal pathogen. Among aqueous extracts, maximum mycelial inhibition of 65.47% was observed by using the extract of P. emblica at 50% concentration. Cow urine alone resulted in complete inhibition in mycelial growth of pathogen at different tested concentrations i.e. 10, 15, and 20%. While, in cow urine-based extracts, maximum mycelial inhibition of 53.33 and 51.67% was observed by using the extract of O. tenuiflorum and P. emblica at 20% concentration. Thus, aqueous and cow urine-based plant extracts could be exploited for the management of Alternaria leaf spot disease of cauliflower. Top Keywords Bio-pesticides, Natural farming, Eco-friendly disease management, Alternaria, Cole crops. Top |