IN VITRO FUNGICIDAL ACTIVITY OF AQUEOUS EXTRACTS OF CROP AND WASTELAND WEEDS AGAINST Myrothecium roridum TODE

Application of aqueous weed extracts is an environment friendly approach to manage destructive plant pathogens and is an emerging tool in biological control of pathogens. In the present study, aqueous extracts of nine weeds Chenopodium album L., Parthenium hysterophorus L., Trianthema portulacastrum L., Malvestrum coromandelianum (L.) Garcke, Coronopus didymus (L.) Sm., Sphaeranthus indicus L., Digera muricata (L.) Mart., Solanum nigrum L. and Nicotiana plumbaginifolia Viv. were applied against Myrothecium roridum Tode strain Mr 10 (accession no. 1155) by food poison technique. Aqueous extracts of weeds were prepared by macerating 20g of fresh leaves in 20 mL of sterilized distilled water (100% w/v stock). The extracts were double filtered through muslin cloth and Whatman filter paper no. 1 and added in PDA medium under asceptic conditions before pouring. The extract of N. plumbaginifolia exhibited growth inhibition of 88%, P. hysterophorus (71%) and S. nigrum, C. didymus, S. indicus and T. portulacastrum L. restrained the colony growth up to 66, 65, 64 and 60%, respectively. Digera muricata was least effective with 11% of colony growth.