Bioefficacy of Botanicals against Exserohilum turcicum causing Leaf Blight of Sorghum

Bioefficacy of Botanicals against Exserohilum turcicum causing Leaf Blight of Sorghum

Ten plant extracts obtained from different plant parts were evaluated against sorghum leaf blight pathogen Exserohilum turcicum for determining their efficacy. Among the tested extracts, garlic was found most effective in substantially suppressing the radial growth of the pathogen by 60.77%, followed by jatropha (59.66%), neem (52.22%), tulsi (50.00%) and bael (49.66%) under in vitro conditions. With three sprays garlic, neem and jatropha reduced disease severity by 46.36, 43.38 and 41.01% respectively in glasshouse. Garlic also appeared best in reducing disease severity by 26.80% under field conditions with three sprays. Increased number of sprays resulted in improved reduction in disease severity.