Studies on the Biological Control of Pomegranate Diseases in Marathwada Region

Abstract

Pomegranate belongs to the family Punicaceae. It is an ancient vital fruit crop newlineof India. The fruits of pomegranate are known to possess therapeutic and newlinepharmaceutical properties having high medicinal value. Amongst the diseases newlineinfecting pomegranate, the bacterial disease generally known as bacterial blight newlinecaused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. Punicae. Bacterial blight of pomegranate is newlineamongst the largely devastating natural calamity which inflicted huge losses to the newlinepomegranate crop productivity particularly in India during the last 24 years. newlineSymptoms of this disease manifested as small, numerous, depressed, segregated, newlinediscoloured and usually water-soaked spots. newlinePomegranate the boon commercial fruit crop to the farmer which turned as a newlinebig bane after the serious out break of bacterial blight. Many growers finding no newlinealternatives to mitigate the disease effectively have uprooted their crop due to newlineunbearable losses. Large scale infestation of Bacterial Blight Disease caused by newlineXanthomonas axonopodis pv. punicae has resulted in considerable damage to the crop. newlineA study on isolation, morphological, biochemical features of this pathogen is of newlineimmense use in understanding the nature of the pathogen. The studies will further help newlinein the management of the disease. The use of medicinal plant extracts is gradually newlinebecoming a method of choice in the management of different plant diseases as these newlineare more ecofriendly and safe. newlineAmongst various plant extracts screened, aqueous, methanol and ethanol leaf newlineextracts of Azadirachta indica, Ricinus communis and Pongamia pinnata effectively newlineretarded the growth of pomegranate bacterial blight pathogen under In Vitro condition. newlineThe present research work was initiated to find a suitable alternative to the synthetic newlineantibiotics for the management of different plant. The present study was aimed to use newlinethree medicinal plants Viz. Azadirachta indica, Ricinus communis and Pongamia newlinepinnata newline