~ 1558 ~    Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2017; 6(5): 1558-1559 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2017; 6(5): 1558-1559 Received: 10-07-2017 Accepted: 11-08-2017 Raut Ravindra Sunderrao Department of Plant Pathology, Sam Higginbottom Univerisity of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, UP, India Sobita Simon Department of Plant Pathology, Sam Higginbottom Univerisity of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, UP, India Abhilasha Lal Department of Plant Pathology, Sam Higginbottom Univerisity of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, UP, India Correspondence Raut Ravindra Sunderrao Department of Plant Pathology, Sam Higginbottom Univerisity of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, UP, India Efficacy of botanicals against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. dianthi Raut Ravindra Sunderrao, Sobita Simon and Abhilasha Lal Abstract Studies were conducted Efficacy of botanicals against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. dianthi in vitro conditions. The extracts of different botanicals were tested against F. oxysporum f.sp. dianthi by poisoned food technique in vitro. Least growth of pathogen was recorded in extracts of neem leaf extract showing excellent inhibitory effect of (78.19 %) reduction over control. Next best in order of merit was Eucalyptus extract (75.87%) followed by ashoka extract (72.48%) and colotropis extract (65.22%) and least by others. Among the neem oil cake and Datura extract maximum growth inhibition of (62.09%) and (60.27%) over control, respectively. Keywords: Colotropis extract, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. dianthi, Neem leaf extract. Introduction Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) is one of the most popular commercially grown flowers of the world. Carnation is preferred to roses and chrysanthemums by several exporting countries, on account of its excellent keeping quality, wide range of forms and colours and ability to withstand long distance transportation. Cut carnations, roses and chrysanthemums contribute close to 50 per cent of the world cut flower trade (Jawaharlal et al., 2009) [1] . There are several diseases reported in carnation including rust caused by Uromyces dianthi, leaf blight by Alternaria dianthi, grey mold by Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. dianthi, leaf spot by Cercospora and Cladosporium and root and stem rots caused by Rhizoctonia solani or F. roseum. Among them, Fusarium wilt is an important soil borne disease occurring prevalently in carnation fields (Kyounge et al., 2001) [2] . The wilt is being controlled through systemic fungicides but it leads to health hazards, environmental pollution and toxicity. It also reduces population of beneficial microorganisms in soil. Hence, it is obligatory to find out some alternate resources to reduce the chemical fungicides usage. Therefore, research on suitable botanical needed to get positive results in the botanical control of soil borne pathogens. The present investigation was taken to manage the disease by use of botanical due soil borne nature of the pathogen. Materials and Method In vitro evaluation of botanical against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. dianthi. The aqueous plant extracts of neem leaf extract, Eucalyptus leaf extract, Ashoka leaf extract, Calotropis leaf extract , Neem oil cake, Datura leaf extract, were prepared as per the method described by Bhatti (1988). The effect of plant extracts on mycelial growth was studied by ‘Poisoned Food Technique’ (Rao and Srivastava (1994). All the plant extracts were tested at 10 per cent concentration against the test pathogen using oat meal agar as a basal medium. The experiment was planned with CRD and all the treatments replicated thrice. The observations on colony diameter of the fungus were recorded when untreated control Petri plate was fully covered with mycelial growth and the per cent inhibition of the test fungus was calculated. Results and Discussion In vitro evaluation of botanical against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. danthi. The aqueous extracts of six plant species were tested against the test fungus to exploit their antifungal properties. All the plant extracts were tested at 10 per cent concentration by using Poisoned Food Technique. All the plant extracts tested showed antifungal activity against F. oxysporum. The data presented in Table 1 revealed that the complete inhibition of F. oxysporum f. sp. dianthi was achieved due to neem leaf extract and was significantly superior over rest of the treatments. Extracts of Eucalyptus, ashoka, Calotropis leaf, neem oil cake, Datura leaf exhibited 75.87, 72.48, 65.22, 62.09, 60.27 per cent inhibition of the test fungus over control, respectively.