Studies on Efficacy of Plant Extracts and Fungicides on Bipolaris bicolor Inciting Leaf Blight of Kodo Millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L.) and their Effect on Conidial Characters (In-vitro)

The study was conducted during September, 2023–September, 2024 at Department of Plant Pathology, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur (M.P.). The current experiment was to study the efficacy of plant extracts and fungicides at different concentrations to inhibit the growth of the fungus in-vitro using poisoned food technique. Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L.) which is a very ancient crop, now days have gained a lot of attention due to its rich nutritive contents and health benefits nowadays suffered from a number of diseases which is hampering the production. Major impactful disease among them is leaf blight of kodo millet caused by Bipolaris bicolor. Different plant extracts used were garlic (Allium sativum), ginger (Zingiber officinale), (Aloe vera), marigold (Tegetes erecta), turmeric (Curcuma longa), neem (Azadiracta indica), congress grass (Parthenium hysterophorus) and aak (Calotropis procera) along with the control. Whereas, on the other hand seven fungicides viz., Tebuconazole 5.36%, Metalaxyl 35% WS, Carbendazim 50% WP, Carboxin 37.5%+Thiram 37.5% DS, Carbendazim 12%+Mancozeb 63% WP, Metalaxyl 8%+Mancozeb 64% WP and Difenoconazole 25% EC along with the control were evaluated in-vitro. Among these plant extracts garlic gave the best results at 5% (40.1%) and 10% (50.0%) when compared to control (84.0 mm and 80.3 mm) at 5% and 10% respectively. Among these fungicides Difenoconazole 25% gave best inhibition at 100 ppm (78.4%) and 250 ppm (83.7%) but Tebuconazole 5.36% gave best inhibition at 500 ppm (87.5%) when compared to control (84.0 mm, 86.1 mm and 85.6 mm) at 100, 250 and 500 ppm respectively. Hence, these plant extracts and fungicides tested in laboratory conditions could be effective when used under in-vivo conditions.