Informatics Publishing Limited

P. Dutta ¹, S. P. Sandilya ¹, P. N. Bhattacharyya ¹, S. R. Sarmah ¹, A. J. Tanti ¹, M. Madhab ¹, R. Begum ¹

Affiliations
1 Mycology and Microbiology Department, Tocklai Tea Research Institute, Tea Research Association, Jorhat 785 008, IN

Abstract

Keshab Chandra Sarma (1898–1973) was one of the distinguished mycologist in the field of tea research and had notable contributions on various phyto-pathological aspects of tea diseases. He achieved domain knowledge in the identification of significant tea pathogens prevalent in tea plantations of North East India. Although Sarma started his career as a part-time researcher in a premier tea research institute in NE India,due to some sterling qualities like sharpness, intelligence, sincerity, devotion to duty and the capacity to learn and formulate novel ideas despite the lack of a formal higher education, he earned his reputation as tea mycologist during 1950s. Throughout his career, Sarma had published a number of research notes,invited lectures, articles and scientific reports. His comprehensive memorandum on ‘Diseases of tea and ancillary crops of North East India’ is highly valued by the tea-growing communities throughout the world.Under the joint guidance of renowned mycologists A. C. Tunstall and V. Agnihothrudu, Sarma flourished and became a leading scientist in the field of tea pathology and plant protection. Identification of tea diseases in relation to environment and development of effective strategies in disease management were the related areas of his research. This note is an effort to highlight the scientific contributions of Sarma towards tea research and development, for the benefit of present and future generations in biological sciences.

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S. R. Sarmah ¹, P. N. Bhattacharyya ¹, K. Barooah ²

Affiliations
1 Mycology and Microbiology department, Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI), Tea Research Association (TRA), Jorhat - 785008, Assam, IN
2 Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI), Tea Research Association (TRA), Jorhat - 785008, Assam, IN

Abstract

Tea plantations in North east India are mostly rain fed and the cropping season needs moist climate with alternating wet and dry periods that eventually attracts diverse tea pathogens like Fusarium solani, Cephaleuros spp., Corticium spp. Poria hypobrunnea, Ustulina zonata, Fomes lamaoensis etc., known to cause several serious diseases in tea and thereby make enormous losses to crop yield and quality, influencing world tea market, adversely. Tea disease management using chemical fungicides alone is, however, prohibitive since the latter is known for destabilizing soil fertility and thereby directly affects the native microbial populations present in soil. Application of new fungicide molecules at its low doses along with exploitation of biological substances (more especially, microbial biocontrol agents) and adoption of Integrated Disease Management (IDM) schedule has been practiced in the present investigation for controlling certain devastating diseases in tea plantation of North East India. Multilocational field trials has been made throughout the investigations using locally isolated microorganisms such as Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Streptomyces, Trichoderma etc. (@ 2%, 5% and 10% spore concentrations), along with crude extracts of botanicals (@ 5% concentration) prepared from Amphineuron opulentum, Cleome gynandra, Ipomea convolvulus, Polygonum hydropiper etc. against dominant tea diseases such as black rot, red rust and Fusarium die back respectively. Maximum emphasis has been made to reduce the load of chemicals and move towards alternative strategies of tea disease management as to promote sustainable tea cultivation. Biological control measures (especially microbial) have potential to reduce the disease severity (up to 78.2% disease reduction) and thereby brought impending perspective for the use of effective biopesticides in tea ecosystem. The potential microbial strains were identified using morphological, biochemical as well as molecular characterization and deposited at NCBI GenBank database with accession numbers. The application technology of microbial biocides has also being popularized among the tea growers throughout the region to accelerate the use of these beneficial microorganisms in tea.

Keywords

Alternative Biological Approaches, Biopesticide, Fungicides, Multilocational Field Trials, Sustainable Tea Cultivation, Tea Disease Management.

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