Management of Pyricularia grisea, the Rice Blast Pathogen through Botanical Pesticides

Rice blast, caused by Pyricularia grisea contributes a major decline in rice production. The unnecessary use of many synthetic fungicides causes deleterious and lethal ecological effects. To cope with these fatal side effects of fungicides various alternative means are optimized in different countries of the world. As a result of this great concern, utilization of higher plants products as innovative chemotherapeutic agents in plant protection is increasing day by day. In present study different type of plant extracts were used to manage leaf and neck blast of rice in arid climate of Sheikhupura, Punjab Pakistan. The consecutive trails of seven days intervals were conducted using different plant extracts. Two years experimental data revealed that ginger and garlic extracts after 21 days exhibited promising result of eliminating leaf blast severity to 9.82 % and 9.89 % respectively, whereas a significant reduction of 14.18 % and 13.97 % was observed in neck blast by applying these plant extracts as compared to control. After 3rd week of Chili extract application, chili was proved best botanical pesticide against rice neck blast, whereas onion and garlic extract showed equal efficacy on eliminating neck blast. Eucalyptus was found least effect on leaf and neck blast, more over aggressive disease was observed in year 2010 than 2011.