Abstract

Mihiret Mekonnen , Begashaw Manahile and Beemnet Mengesha

Mentha arvensis is a robust perennial aromatic and medicinal herb that belongs to the Labiatae family. Its production is affected by many diseases. Among all diseases, Puccinia menthae has been found the most abundant diseases of Mint crop at the study site. The study was conducted to screen effective botanicals for the control of Japanese mint leaf rust. Crude extracts of L. camara, M. ferruginea, E. globules, M. anceolata, R. chalepensis, V. amygdallina, D. stramonium and C. citrates were evaluated for their efficacy. Propiconazole was used as a standard check and untreated plants as control. Treatments were arranged in completely randomized design and randomized complete block design for greenhouse and field experiments, respectively. The milled material (150gm) of each plant was treated with 150 ml of acetone as extract ant. Spore suspension of the pathogen containing 10-6 spores/ml was sprayed on two-month-old Japanese Mint seedlings. The filtered extract of each plant at 20% concentration was sprayed. All plant extracts had shown antifungal activity against Japanese mint leaf rust. The maximum (85.56%) control was recorded in M. lanceolata. Generally, extracts of M. lanceolata, D. stramonim and M. ferruginea were effective to protect Japanese mint leaf rust and hence enhanced yield.