Management of Fusarium wilt of tomato (Pusa Ruby) by plant extracts and fungicides

Abstract

Fusarium wilt disease of tomato caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici is one of the most important and widespread disease of the cultivated tomato.The  yield loss in tomato in temperate region of India due to this disease is 10 to 90 percent. Investigation was undertaken to screen out the fungicides viz., Azoxystrobin(T₁), Propineb(T₂), Thiophanate Methyl (T₃), Difenoconazole(T₄), Mancozeb(T₅), Mancozeb + Thiophanate Methyl(T₆), Boscolid+Pyraclostrobin(T₇) and control (T₈)  and  plant extracts viz, onion bulb(T₉), ,ginger rhizome(T₁₀),  garlic clove(T₁₁), neem leaf (T₁₂), ashwagandha leaf(T₁₃), sarpgandha leaf(T₁₄), ashok leaf(T₁₅) and control (T₁₆)  , against wilt of tomato under in vivo and in vivo conditions. Ginger rhizome extract (T₁₀) was found very promising as it produced 82.2 % growth inhibition of F. oxysporumf.sp. lycopersiciat @t 15 % concentration followed by garlic clove(T₁₁) (76.1%).  Two soil drenching withgarlic clove(T₁₁), @ 15 percent showed minimum disease incidence of (16.6%) with maximum yield (435.3 q/ha) followed by ginger rhizome(T₁₀) extract (18.4% and 428.2 q/ha). Mancozeb + Thiophanate Methyl(T₆), Difenoconazole(T₄) and Thiophanate Methyl(T₆) completely inhibited the radial growth and sporulation  of Fusarium oxysporumf.sp. lycopersici after 144 hrs of incubation. Two soil drenching of  Mancozeb +Thiophanate Methyl(T₆),  @ 15 per cent was also found  the best for managing the disease as minimum disease incidence (5.3%) and highest yield (470.9 q/ha) was recorded.