Efficacy of botanicals against Pestalotia leaf spots in Strawberry Rajnish K*, Gautam HR Department of Plant Pathology, College of HorticultureDr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan173230Himachal Pradesh, India *Email for correspondence: rajnishkaushik1993@gmail.com
Online Published on 20 December, 2022. Abstract Pestalotia leaf spot is a serious disease of strawberry in temperate and subtropical areas. In the present study, out of thirteen aqueous botanicals evaluated under in vitro conditions, neem (Azadirachta indica) and Darek (Melia azedarach) were found most effective with 38.26 and 38.10 per cent of mycelial inhibition of Pestalotia followed by Roylea elegans (34.56%) and Ocimum sanctum (33.82%). The mycelial growth inhibition increased with the increase in concentration of plant extract. Among botanicals-based bio-formulations, Neemazal was found most effective with 75.78 per cent mycelial inhibition followed by botanical field formulation-2 (BFF-2) (57.05%) and botanical field formulation-1 (BFF-1) (26.16%). Among botanicals-based bio-formulations, Neemazal and BFF-2 were found most effective with disease incidence of 10.38 and 12.06 per cent and disease index of 4.24 and 6.54 per cent respectively. The yield recorded was 137.45, 141.34 and 138.00 q/ha and number of runners was 36.0, 37.6 and 35.8 in BFF-1, BFF-2 and Nemazal treatments respectively which were higher than control (53.68 q/ha and 13.8 respectively) but there were no differences among BFF-1, BFF-2 and Nemazal for these traits. Highest average plant height of 39.34 cm was recorded in the treatment BFF-2 followed by BFF-1 and Neemazal with plant height of 37.86 and 36.72 cm respectively, the latter two being at par. Thus foliar sprays of cow urine-based botanical field formulation (BFF-2) at 10 days interval starting from first week of July were found effective and may be recommended for management of disease under field conditions. Top Keywords Pestalotia leaf spot, Strawberry, Botanicals, Disease incidence. Top |