Book review on "Aeromycology over Kachai lemon plantation in eastern Himalayan region"
- Part 2 -

BN Pande *

SECTION – V: In this book Prof. N.I. Singh and his co-authors focused their attention on the problems of SocioEconomic Upliftment of Growers by the Horticultural crop. They also added in it the Limitations of Physico- Economic Upliftment of the Kachai lemon Farmers.

As regard to the Socio-Economic Upliftment of the farmers, Prof. Singh and his co- workers made analysis of 95 Kachai lemon growers selling lemon in the Kachai village and provided the information like 501 villagers in 2011, on an average, a grower grows 187 plants with a range of 25 – 3000 per grower.

Half of the growers grow 60 plants or more as shown in the median. The main output is 54 tins 20 liters capacity) with a range of 10-600 tins. Half of them produce 40 tons or more. The average yield per tree is 00.65tin approximately equal to 8 kg of fruit (using 12.5 kg / tin with a range of 0.01- 1.6. Half of the trees yield 0.64 tin more (approximately equal to 8kg of fruit).

The correlation between yield/ tree in tins and number of trees is (-)0.44 i.e higher the number of trees low is the yield/ tree. It raises the classic size- productivity debate in agriculture. The negative association between size of a farm and productivity used to be a strong argument for breaking up large farms. Yield is high in small farms due to better care of plants.

Yield / tree is much higher when the growers grow only a few trees. It is obvious that when a farmer grows many trees, it spreads over a large area which in turn due care cannot be given to the plants which are aging and becoming more vulnerable to diseases associated with climate change.

SUMMARY OF THE WORK CARRIED OUT IN THE AEROMYCOLOGYNOVER KACHAI LEMON PLANTATION:

o Phytoextracts of the ten medicinal plants showed different inhibitory effects on the growths of fungal pathogens of Kachai lemon.
o Phytoextract Curcuma longa showed highest antifungal activity against Fusarium sp. followed by Ageratum sp. and Zingiber sp. respectively.
o Phytoextract of Curcuma longa showed highest growth inhibition rate
o Against Penicillium digitatum the highest antifungal activity exhibited by Azadirachta indica, Zingiber sp. etc.
o The phytoextracts used in this experiment showed higher growth (%) at higher concentration rate.
o The highest antifungal rate against Penicillium digitatum was due to Azadirachta indica.
o The four chemicals were used for the management of fungal diseases of Kachai lemon and showed significant antifungal activity against the fungal pathogens.
o Carbendazim 50% W.P. exhibited the highest inhibitory effect against species of Fusarium 100% growth inhibition even at lower concentration (0.1%).
o The best result was shown by Carbendazim 50% for controlling Phytophthora parasitica, which exhibited 85.59% growth inhibition at its 0.1% concentration.
o The study on socioeconomic upliftment of Kachai village revealed important constraints perceived by the lemon growers i.e., lack of storage facility, marketing constraints due poor road condition, high fluctuation in the market price, lack of technical knowledge etc.

SECTION – VI: Comprises Fungal Airspora over Citrus Plantation Field – Past and Present with Chapter –VI- on General discussion. To understand the overall composition of the atmosphere and its application in various crop fields.

In order to study the correlation between air borne microbial components, weather parameters growth stages of the crop and their subsequent effects on the disease incidence on the crop and to provide a better and efficient disease forecasting system for the Kachai lemon fruit, air monitoring studies were undertaken by the authors for 3 years, using Tilak's Rotorod air sampler and petri plate exposure method. These investigations of three years revealed a rich presence of the fungal population, which exhibited monthly, seasonal and annual variation in their concentration.

The analysis of Airspora revealed some dominant airborne components like Alternaria, Torula, Pithomyces, Helminthos-porium, Aspergillus, Periconia, Nigrospora, Aspergillus- Penicillium and smut to the total Airspora throughout study. It is evident from the obtained results that the incidence of pathogenic spore is common in India.

Fusarium sp (causal organism for Leaf wilt and die back of young twigs), Phytopthora parasiticaa (causal organism for fruit rot and gummosis) were also recorded during the study over Kachai lemon plantation field. The concentration and diversity of the Airspora generally varies with changes in meteorological conditions such as temperature, relative humidity and rainfall.

These are known to impact quality and quantity of Airspora with the surrounding vegetation and flowering period. The investigation also revealed that the maximum occurrence of spore type was in monsoon season, which eventually exhibited a correlation with prevailing environmental parameters like moderate rate of temperature, high range of relative humid conditions and slight heavy precipitation.

The dispersal of airborne fungal spores is the result of complex interaction between species and location. Kachai lemon (Citrus jambhiri Lush) is a major commercial fruit crop as a fresh fruit or juice due to its high Vitamin C content and antioxidant potential. Its production level is decreasing due to pests and diseases. Therefore, the farmers need to be advised to know about its maintenance.

The effects of biological factors may differ between species and location, but the physical mechanism of the dispersal is the same for all particles clearly indicate that most of the spores require rainfall as the prerequisite for their release in the air, thus high incidence in the atmosphere for the subsequent period while relative humidity and moderate temperature governed the spore concentration as the secondary factors. The results obtained and conclusion drawn by authors are that during the period of investigation, there was no spore free period over Kachai lemon field.

In view of the above, it is to state that there is a need for improving postharvest practices by establishing agro processing units in the village itself with the help of Multinational Corporation.

Chapter – VII: This chapter included Summary, Conclusion with suggested Recommendations: Thus, the conclusion drawn from the information obtained from this book has to be taken into consideration as this would be helpful for developing disease forecasting system leading to efficient control of the diseases of the lemon orchard and the study on fungal disease of Kachai lemon and its management practices sing different phytoextracts could be transformed to the farmers for sustainable economic development.

Professor N.I. Singh, former Professor of aerobiology (HAG), Centre of advanced study in Life Sciences, Manipur University, Canchipur, Doyen of Aerobiology from North East India, eventually a senior author of the book has painstakingly dedicated his efforts for bringing out this volume successfully in the form of reference book.

This book will eventually provide information about establishing a disease forecasting system leading to efficient control of diseases of Lemon orchards. I have no doubt that the contents of this volume will give impetus to the basic and applied Aeromycology. This will further strengthen the industrious and energetic collaboration of the National Aerobiological Organization.

Prof. N.I. Singh is a unique combination of Academician and Administration. He is a legend in his own lifetime for his contribution to Indian Aerobiology from North East India.


Concluded ....