Title: Crude plant extracts: Potential bio-fertilizers and treatment against tomato plant infection

Biography:

Peter Mudiaga Etaware has completed his Ph.D. at the age of 38 years from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria (Awaiting postdoctoral appointments in Plant Pathology and Microbiology). He is a seasoned researcher with penchant for excellence. He developed “ETAPOD” the first forecast model in Nigeria to predict black pod disease outbreak using simple analytical software. He was honoured with the prestigious award of the “University Scholar, 2004/2005”. He is the CEO of Rex-Lab, a premier data analytical company. He has published more than 10 research articles in reputed journals and he is an editorial board member of repute.

Abstract

Tomato cultivation in Nigeria and around the world is seriously threatened by disease infection. Soilless cultivation and gene engineering are modern innovations used worldwide to ensure production of quality disease-free vegetables; yet annual crop loss still persists. In 2011, a commercial vegetable farm in Apete, Ibadan, Nigeria was totally ravaged by a fleet of disease infection. 36 infected tomato samples were annihilated from 6 cultivars for laboratory analysis. Crude plant extracts were employed as treatments. The test plants were arranged in 4x3x2x3x3 (experimental plots) and 4x3x3 (control plot) layouts. The tomato plants were basically infected by fungal diseases. The disease symptoms were totally eradicated by the applied botanicals (100% healthy tomato plants). There was an appreciable increase in plant heights of the treated tomato plants (30.9, 30.2, 27.5 and 26.5cm, respectively) compared to those in the control plots (24.1, 22.3, 23.3 and 18.6cm, respectively). The results obtained so far showed that plant extracts was an effective alternative for the systemic and hazardous chemicals used in tomato plant disease management.