Cashew is infected by more than 20 diseases worldwide. Among the diseases, anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.), perfect stage Glomerella cingulata (Ston.) Spauld. & Schrenk is a serious menace in cultivation of cashew causing economic loss in Odisha. The present investigation was carried out with an objective to study the efficacy of easily available different botanicals in in-vitro condition. Ten plant extracts such as Strychnos nuxvomica, Rauvolfia serpentine, Azadirachta indica, Pongamia pinnata, Aegle marmelos, Ipomoea carnea, Tabernaemontana divaricata, Lantana camara, Begonia grandis and Carica papaya were evaluated against the pathogen at 15% and 20% concentration. Among the plant extracts, Aegle marmelos recorded maximum mycelia growth inhibition of 74.85% followed by Ipomoea carnea (63.23%) and Pongamia pinnata (54.89 %) at 15% concentration. Tabernaemontana divaricata recorded the least inhibition of 5.56%. The result at 20% concentration was also obtained at the same trend as 15% concentration. Maximum inhibition as high as 88.78% was recorded from Aegle marmelos followed by Ipomoea carnea (85%) and Pongamia pinnata (70 %). The least inhibition of 7.45% was registered from Tabernaemontana divaricata. The effectiveness of Aegle marmelos and Ipomoea carnea against cashew anthracnose may be attributed to presence of oxazoline derivative named aeglemarmelosine and ergonovine respectively which needs further investigation. Further, the effective plant products may be tested under field condition against cashew anthracnose.

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