Browsing by Author "Mba, Paul Chikezie"

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    Fungitoxity of selected bio-pesticides on the storage rot diseases and biochemical composition of yam varieties (Dioscorea spp) in Owerri
    (Federal University of Technology, Owerri, 2021-07) Mba, Paul Chikezie
    The study was conducted at the laboratory of Crop Science and Technology, School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, Federal University of Technology Owerri between 2017 to 2019.This project evaluated the fungitoxicity of some bio-pesticides on the control of storage rot diseases of yam varieties (D. rotundata and D. alata) especially caused by Aspergillus spp, Fusarium spp, Rhizopus stolonifer, Yeast and B. theobromae. The fungitoxic activity of ethanol extracts of seven plant leaves (used as bio-pesticides); Chromolaena odorata, Carica papaya, Vernonia amygdalina, Ocimum gratissimum, Azadirachta indica, Psidium guajava and Cymbopogon citratus were tested in Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium to determine their percentage inhibitions against the organisms isolated from the tubers. The layout for experiment was a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with seven (7) treatments and three (3) replications. Data was collected on some chemical constituents on both yam varieties of (D. rotundata and D. alata) and seven (7) leaf extracts used for the experiment. Result revealed that D. rotundata recorded higher chemical constituents than D. alata. The results of the study showed that Azadirachta indica extracted with ethanol as bio-pesticides for the experiment was the most fungitoxic as it possessed the best level (%) of inhibition on all the organisms isolated from yam varieties of D. rotundata and D. alata this could be because it contains phytochemicals such as Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Tannins, Phenols in reasonable percentage more than other plant extracts used in this work. It substantially suppressed the growth of A. niger. Furthermore, Azadirachta indica was most fungitoxic on rot diseases of A. niger (9.8%), Yeast (11.13%) and Rhizopus stolonifer (11.53%) isolated from D. alata and D. rotundata while Carica papaya (12.0%) was found to be most effective in the control of rot diseases of Fusarium oxysporium during the investigation. The application of Azadirachta indica was able to limit the growth of all the microorganisms identified during pathogenicity test. On point of attack the varieties of D. alata and D. rotundata showed that the most susceptible point of attack on the tubers was the basal part. The losses due to pathogenic attack was significantly reduced mostly by Azadirachta indica followed by Vernonia amygdalina then Carica papaya when Ocimum gratissimum was the lowest and are therefore recommended in that sequence.