Eco-Friendly strategy to Control Soil-Borne Phytopathogens

Plant fungal pathogens Macrophomina phaseolina, Fusarium oxysporum are serious limitations to agricultural productivity due to their extended survival, wide host range and resistance to synthetic fimgicides. Presently, market provides limited options of phytobiological agents for biocontrol of pathogens. The Manuscript proposes a sustainable PhytoMycoBiological (PMB) approach for effective pathogen control. Whole leaf extracts of Ricinus communis, Calotropis procera were tested for their pathogen growth suppression ability and were found to be 1.1 fold {Ricinus vs. Fusariuni) and 1.5 fold (Ricinus/Macophomina', Calotropis/Macrophomina) fold more effective as compared to the conventional Neem (Azadirachta indica) extract applied at same dosage. In the dosage dependency experiments R communis exhibited maximum inhibition, arresting ~ 50% growth in both pathogens where Neem could only restrict 30% - 40% growth of M. phaseolina, F. oxysporum respectively. All results were statistically analyzed (one-way ANOVA and post hoc test, Tukey HSD) and pathogen control ability found statistically significant (p < 0.001). Further, when these plant leaf extracts (PLE) were supplemented with equal amount of cell-free extract (CFE) from native biocontrol agent Trichoderma harzianum (T103), the antifungal effect was more pronounced (increased by 1.1 fold). CFE + R communis combination was by far most impactful (64.35% growth reduction in M phaseolina and 60% against F. oxysporum). The results reflect synergistic relationship between the action of phytobiologicals from PLE and CFE of T. harzianum, providing primary scientific evidence for developing most advantageous PhytoMycoBiological formulations as environmentally friendly substitutes for pathogen control. This combined strategy holds a lot of potential in terms of sustainable control of the devastating soil-borne infections in food production systems.