IN VITRO INHIBITORY EFFECT OF BOTANICALS ON RHIZOCTONIA BATATICOLA CAUSING DRY ROOT ROT IN CHICKPEA

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is a legume crop belonging to the family Fabaceae and subfamily Faboideae. It is the world’s second most extensively grown legume after, common bean. Among the several soils borne fungal diseases of chickpea, dry root rot (DRR) caused by Rhizoctonia bataticola Taub (Butler) is the most severe diseases in the central and southern zone, where the crop is mostly grown under rainfed. The disease generally appears around flowering and podding stage. The indiscriminate use of most of the synthetic fungicides has created different types of environmental and toxicological problems. This work can help in exploitation of botanicals as novel chemotherapeutants in plant protection. However, garlic (Allium sativum) appeared significantly most effective and suppressed the radial mycelial growth followed by Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) and Adusa (Adhatoda vasica) with radial growth of mycelium, recorded as 13.96mm, 44.25mm and 57.94mm respectively