Fungicidal effect of plant extracts on the growth of <em>Sclerotium rolfsii,</em> the incitant of collar rot of chickpea

Sclerotium rolfsii is an important ubiquitous and polyphagous soil borne pathogen, known to cause collar rot of chickpea. This is a serious and well spread disease in Uttar Pradesh. An in vitro experiment was conducted to evaluate the best botanical effective against Sclerotium rolfsii by using food poison technique. Two concentrations of each botanical were maintained. Out of six different medicinal phytoextracts viz. Onion bulb (Allium cepa), Zinger rhizome (Zingiber officinale), Bael leaf (Aegle marmelos), Lemon grass leaf (Cymbopogon citrates), Datura leaf (Datura stramonium) and Calotrophis leaf (Calotropis procera) screened, Lemon grass leaf (Cymbopogon citrates) showed greater effect in reducing the pathogen growth by 59.62 and 71.66% at 10% and 15% concentrations respectively followed by Datura leaf (Datura stramonium) and Calotrophis leaf (Calotropis procera). Least inhibition percent was noticed with Onion bulb (Allium cepa) with only 28.77% and 39.77% respectively. Thus, of all the tested botanicals, Lemon grass at 15% concentration was found to be highly effective in suppressing collar rot disease caused by Sclerotium rolfsii.