Abstract
Root rot fungi cause severe losses of crop plants, so the present work was carried out to determine the effect of Aerva javanica parts powder on root infecting fungi of mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.). A. javanica parts (stem, leaves and flower) were used as soil amendments at 0.1, 1 and 5% to check the effectiveness on growth parameters. All the plant parts showed a significant reduction in root rot fungi like Fusarium spp., Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, and Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid. It was noted that germination percentage, fresh weight, leaf area and number of nodules were significantly higher and the inhibitory effect on root rot fungi increased when the soil was amended with A. javanica leaves at 1%. Thus, among all the treatments, A. javanica leaves at 1% were found to be the most effective against root rot fungi.
Keywords
Aerva javanica; root rot fungi; mung bean; cowpea