IN VITRO EFFICACY OF NATURAL COMPONENTS AND MANAGEMENT OF SUGARCANE WILT DISEASE CAUSED BY FUSARIUM SACCHARI

The natural components were tested for their effectiveness in controlling sugarcane wilt disease under In vitro conditions.Eight components were used viz., garlic, neem, tulsi, giloe, aloe vera, lemongrass, sahjan, and bael.Extracts from all components were tested at 10%, 15%, and 20% concentrations using food poison techniques to control the sugarcane wilt pathogen Fusarium sacchari in the laboratory.All the tested natural components significantly inhibit the mycelial growth of pathogen as compared to control.Among the eight, garlic (72.53%) at 20% showed the highest inhibition, followed by neem and tulsi, which produced comparable results.The least inhibition was observed with bael (27.87%) at 20%, followed by lemongrass and sahjan.Giloe and aloe vera showed intermediate levels of mycelial growth inhibition.The present study found that in pot condition all the components reduce the settling mortality and disease incidence and these effectiveeffective natural components, when used at appropriate concentrations.Using natural components is safe and presents a good alternative to synthetic chemical fungicides.