Abstract
Branch canker is the main stem disease of Camellia sp. caused by Macrophoma sp. In this study, branch canker pathogen was isolated, bought to pure culture and maintained in potato dextrose agar medium (PDA). A total number of 150 bacterial and 40 fungal strains were isolated from different agro climatic zone of south India, which are region specific and native strains (resembling Pseudomonas spp. Bacillus spp. and Trichoderma spp.). Among the total number of bacterial and fungal isolates, 6 bacterialand 3 Trichoderma spp. Showed antagonistic effect against the branch canker pathogen. The study clearly indicates that Bacillus spp. Pseudomonas spp. followed by Trichoderma spp. showed higher antagonistic potential against the test pathogen. The study also includes that, the selected botanical fungicides, neem kernel extract, garlic extract, Aloe vera, Tulsi and Expel (Botanical fungicides) at different concentration were carried out against Macrophoma sp. Results showed that, commercially available botanical fungicide (Expel) is effective to control the growth of branch canker pathogen compare then other chemical and botanical fungicides. The commonly used fungicides in tea plantation such as Hexaconazole (Contof 5E), Tebuconazole (Folicur) and Tridemorph (Calixin) were evaluated against Macrophoma sp. under in vitro conditions. The results indicated that Tebuconazole all the three concentrations at 1.78 ppm was found to be the most effective in suppressing the growth of branch canker pathogen. The results concluded that biocontrol agents (Bacillus spp. Pseudomonas spp and Trichoderma spp.), botanical fungicide (Expel) and chemical fungicide (Tebuconazole) are very effective to control the branch canker pathogen under in vitro conditions.
Highlights
Tea, an evergreen plant is one of the most popular, non-alcoholic beverages consumed by nearly half the world population
Among the stem diseases of tea, branch canker caused by Macrophoma theicola is a predominant stem inhabiting fungal disease which has been reported from Ceylon
Low yield due to incidence of collar and branch canker caused by Phomposis theae and Macrophoma theicola was reported from central Africa [11]
Summary
An evergreen plant is one of the most popular, non-alcoholic beverages consumed by nearly half the world population. Majority of tea pathogens are of fungal origin and more than 300 species of fungi are reported to affect different parts of the tea plant [2,3,4]. Among the stem diseases of tea, branch canker caused by Macrophoma theicola is a predominant stem inhabiting fungal disease which has been reported from Ceylon. The affected branches are killed slowly by the invading fungus until the disease spreads to the collar when upper portion of the plant dies. In Taiwan, around 40% of the tea bushes were killed by twig dieback and in south-east Asian countries, root rot disease was responsible for major crop loss [4,10]. Low yield due to incidence of collar and branch canker caused by Phomposis theae and Macrophoma theicola was reported from central Africa [11]. The present study involves the isolation, morphological identification and the effect of different chemical and botanical fungicides, bio-control agents on Macrophoma sp
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