Identifying New Pathogen for Black Rot Disease of Tea and Incorporated Wedelia trilobata Extraction and Captan for Controlling Black Rot Disease.

The black rot disease (causal fungus; Cortcium theae and Cortcium invisium) of tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the foliar diseases in Sri Lanka. It is a serious concern for the tea industry due to the reduced tea yield and quality. Recently, synthetic fungicides have been used to control black rot disease, but they are more toxic substances and pollute the environment. Therefore, the present study was performed to identify the effective integrated method by using botanical extract of Wedelia trilobata (common name: Tharuka and Arunadevi) and Captan to control disease while reducing chemical fungicide requirement.