Abstract:
Chrysanthemum flower (
Chrysanthemum indicum Ramat) is popularly designated as “Queen of the east”, or autumn queen (as its bloom in November-December) (Shibata, 2008; Teixeira
et al., 2013).
Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.
chrysanthemi (
Foc) causing vascular wilt is one of the most devastating pathogens attacking Chrysanthemum. This pathogen bears a great ability to attack all the growth stages, ranging from nursery to flowering stages (Pinto
et al., 2010). In this experiment, an attempt was made to manage this theat (
Foc) by means of three systemic (Propiconazole, Hexaconazole, Vitavax) and two non-systemic fungicides (Mancozeb, Thiram) at four different concentrations (100, 200, 300 and 400ppm), both in lab (
in-vitro) and in pot conditions. And the observations reflected that Mancozeb was the most effective in terms of radial growth inhibition and disease severity, followed by Propiconazole for all the tested fungicides at all the concentrations in both experiments. A significant effectiveness over control was also noted for Hexaconazole and Vitavax, but only at their higher concentrations in poison food technique. While in
pot experiments, Hexaconazole and Vitavax produced quite similar effects. Among all tested fungicides, Thiram stands to be least effective at all the concentrations. An attempt was made to compare the effectiveness of four selected nano-chemicals namely, Copper, Molybdenum, Cobalt and Magnesium, over above mentioned traditional chemicals at the same concentration, both
in vitro and in pot condition. Interestingly, a superiority of traditional fungicides was recorded in both
in vitro and pot experiments. Among all the nano-particles under evaluation Cu NP was the most effective, followed by Molybdenum. Magnesium nanoparticles were found to be the least effective among all the tested nanoparticles. It was noteworthy that all the nanoparticles were effective, only at there higher concentrations.