Preliminary Selection and Evaluation of Fungicides and Natural Compounds to Control Grey Mold Disease of Rose Caused by Botrytis cinerea

Botrytis cinerea is a plant fungal pathogen causing the grey mold disease of rose ‎‎(Rosa indica L.). Finding new and alternative environment-friendly control strategies than ‎hazardous chemicals on different crop diseases is a crucial and healthy step to cope with ‎the current challenges of climate change. ‎ Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of different botanical extracts and biocontrol agents (biopesticides) along with different fungicides against B. cinerea under in-vitro conditions. Three different concentrations i.e., 100, 200, and 300 ppm of five fungicides namely Acrobate, Melody, Cabrio top, Antracol, and Copper oxychloride, botanical extracts of eight plants Dhatura, Ginger, Aak, Neem and Onion, at three different doses of 5, 10, and 15%, and eleven biocontrol fungal agents were used as antagonistic under in-vitro on rose plants, The survey of ‎disease incidence% of grey mold on the rose crop in the region shows that the Hyderabad region has a maximum (60%) disease incidence as compared to Tandojam region ‎‎(40%). Among fungicides, the Cabrio top significantly reduced linear colony growth (31 mm) of B. cinerea at 300 ppm concentration. Among botanicals, extract of neem plant exhibited significantly lowest colony growth (23.33 mm) followed by the ginger plant (25 mm) and dhatura plant (26 mm). The higher concentration of fungicides and higher doses (15%) of botanicals extracts appeared significantly efficient to control the pathogen B. cinerea. Among biopesticides, Fusarium solani appeared prominent in reducing colony growth (25.16 mm) of the pathogen but the difference was not significant 300 with most of the tested biocontrol agents. The recommendation in this study is the high ability of botanical extracts and biocontrol agents in reducing the growth of grey mold, potentially considering using them instead of synthetic fungicides and more safety for the ecosystem. Keywords: Trichoderma, Fusarium, dhatura, botanical, biological control, synthetic fungicides.