DefinePK

Abstract

Viruses are microorganisms that infect all kinds of living organisms including plants, and cause remarkable lose in crop production. Although pesticides showed that they can protect plants from pest infections, there are no effective substances that can be used as potent virucides. Therefore, there is a continuous demand to produce chemicals in order to stop and cure viral infections in plants. However, toxicity and carcinogenicity issues were always attributed to chemical pesticides. Screening of natural products shined in the dark to find new safe virucides. An experiment was designed to test the efficacy of a few botanical extracts on the potato viral diseases. Minimum disease incidence recorded was 24.97 % and 23.22%  percent in potato plots which received  tuber treatment Terminila arjuna bark extract and two foliar sprays of Enviro (botanical virucides). Whereas, tuber treatment and six sprays with Tinospora cordifolia (aerial stem extract) reduced disease incidence by 29.21% and 30.82% followed by tuber treatment  and six foliar spray with Allium sativum (garlic clove extract) 33.51% and 34.57%., maximum disease control (70.49 % and 71.99%), Maximum plant height (44.53 cm and 45.60 cm) and total number of tubers (10.20 and 10.30 per plant), were recorded in plots having tuber treatment Terminila arjuna bark extract and two foliar sprays of Enviro (botanical virucides)followed by tuber treatment and six sprays with Tinospora cordifolia (aerial stem extract) and uber treatment  and six foliar spray with Allium sativum (garlic clove extract) during 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively.