Authors : E.U. Opara and F.T. Obani
Abstract: Pot trials were conducted at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria to investigate the performance of four plant extracts (Azadirachta indica, Garcinia kola, Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum) and three synthetic pesticides (furadan, benomyl and streptomycin sulphate) for the control of bacterial leaf spot of two varieties of Solanum (S. gilo and S. torvum). The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and replicated three times. The results showed that A. indica and Z. officinale at 5 g L-1 were as good as the synthetic pesticides such as benomyl (0.1 g L-1) in reducing bacterial leaf spot disease severity of the two varieties; S. gilo (2.52) and S. torvum (3.48) in contrast with the control experiment, water (4.94-5.52). In this study, some plant extracts can serve as alternatives to the synthetic pesticides in the control of bacterial leaf spot disease of Solanum without any adverse effect on crop yield and yield parameters. The use of plant extracts therefore can be recommended to farmers considering their environmentally friendliness and availability.
E.U. Opara and F.T. Obani, 2010. Performance of Some Plant Extracts and Pesticides in the Control of Bacterial Spot Diseases of Solanum . Agricultural Journal, 5: 45-49.