Description

ABSTRACT

Background: Amaranthus is one of the most important leafy vegetables consumed and cultivated in Southern India. Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn is known to be the most devastating fungal disease threatening the cultivation of this plant. The control of this disease with fungicides is likely to cause serious health hazards. Objective: To obtain an effective Agrohomoeopathic management of the leaf blight disease in Amaranthus tricolor with ultra-high dilution of Thuja, to compare different methods of medicinal applications by soaking, drenching and foliar spray methods, to compare the eco-friendly management with that of fungicides and to compare the growth parameters of various sets of experimental treatment. Methods: The methodology comprises of different methods of medicinal applications in four sets of plants, out of which one set is treated with Copper oxychloride by foliar spray method, second set (seeds germinated by soaking in Thuja 30) and third set (seeds germinated without soaking) by foliar spray, drenching and combined methods and the fourth set by drenching and foliar spray with spirit. Result: From the study it was observed that the branching index, average number of leaves, average plant height, and quality of leaves per plant was more in those treated with ultra-high dilution of Thuja by all the three methods and the newly formed leaves are edible and free from the blight disease.In the analysis report it was noted that the Ascorbic acid was found more in those old unaffected leaves treated by all the three methods and Carotenoids was observed to be more in the set treated with spirit. Conclusion: The commercial use of ultra-high dilution of Thuja occidentalis which can effectively manage the leaf blight disease in Amaranthus cultivation will prove to be cost effective and can revolutionize agricultural production in large scale.

Keywords: Ultra-high dilution of Thuja occidentalis, Agrohomoeopathy, Rhizoctonia leaf blight, Amaranthus tricolor