Abstract
A pot trial was conducted in 2010 and 2011 cropping seasons at the screen house of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike to determine the potency of some plant extracts and pesticides for the control of bacterial leaf blight of cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta L.) Scholt. The materials employed include: lemon grass (Cymbopogon citrates). Black pepper seed (Piper guineense), orange peel (Citrus sinesis), streptomycin sulphate (antibiotic), copper oxychloride (fungicide) and sterile water (control). The experiment was laid in complete randomized design (CRD) and replicated six times. The plant materials used were first made into aqueous extracts using cold water extraction and diluted to 10% concentration. Application on leaves was by use of a hand sprayer for two weekly intervals. Data were collected on disease severity and incidence including growth parameters and on yield of corms. The results obtained showed that all the plant extracts were able to reduce disease and increase yield better than the untreated control.
Highlights
Cocoyam Colocasia esculenta (L.) Scholt constitutes one of the basic food crops of major economic importance in the south eastern Nigeria
This study shows the bactericidal potential and potency of the three plant extracts used namely C. sinenesis, P. guineese and C. citrates in comparison with standard pesticides as far as reducing both disease severity and incidence are concerned and at the same time enhancing growth and yield of cocoyam which is an important staple food crop in south Eastern Nigeria
This work is similar to the those reported by earlier workers (Amadioha, 2003; John and James, 2004; Opara and Wokeocha, 2008) which showed that some indigenous plant species could serve as potential antimicrobial agents against bacterial pathogens
Summary
Cocoyam Colocasia esculenta (L.) Scholt constitutes one of the basic food crops of major economic importance in the south eastern Nigeria. There are two main edible types of cocoyam in Nigeria viz: Colocasia exculenta (L.) Scholt, otherwise known as ‘taro’ and Xanthosoma saggittifoleium known as ‘tannia’ (Arene and Ene, 1987). The former is by far more popular than the later. Taro requires heavy fertile upland soil and plentiful rainfall for good yield It does well in a fertile low land environment (Agboola, 1987; Anikwe et al, 2007) and commonly grown in South Eastern zone of Nigeria. This study was undertaken to isolate and identify the causal organism and determine the potency of some selected local plant extracts in the control of bacterial leaf blight of Colocasia esculenta
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