Assessing the Resistance of Different Varieties and Germplasms against Cumin Blight Caused by Alternaria burnsii
Kiran Kumawat *
Department of Plant Pathology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur, India.
Pokhar Rawal
Department of Plant Pathology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur, India.
Amit Trivedi
Department of Plant Pathology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur, India.
R. N. Bunker
Department of Plant Pathology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur, India.
Deepak Rajpurohit
Department of Biotechnology, AICRP on PHET, CTAE, MPUAT, Udaipur, India.
B. G. Chhipa
Department of Soil Water Engineering, CTAE, MPUAT, Udaipur, India.
H. K. Sharma
Department of Nematology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur, India.
Shaik Munnysha
Department of Plant Pathology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur, India.
Mamta Beniwal
Department of Plant Pathology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur, India.
Smriti Akodiya
Department of Plant Pathology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Cumin is a highly valuable spice crop which is widely used for flavoring food, as well as in herbal medicine, due to its distinctive aroma. However, cumin production faces several challenges, as infestation with Alternaria blight caused by Alternaria burnsii. Efforts have been made over time to screen and identify cumin varieties and germplasms that are resistant to this blight disease. Host plant resistance is considered an effective, economical, and environmentally friendly method for controlling plant diseases. Forty varieties and germplasms were screened under field conditions to find out the source of resistance to Alternaria blight caused by Alternaria burnsii. None of the varieties and germplasms tested was found completely free from the disease. However, twelve varieties and germplasms i.e. RZ-209, RZ-223, RZ-341, RZ-345, UC-282, UC-328, UC-321, UC-342, UC-335, UC-329, JC-2000-57 and JC-2010-02 were categorized as susceptible (S) and three, namely GC-4, MCU-73 and MCU-105 were founds highly susceptible (HS) and rest were moderately susceptible (MS). These findings highlight the need to incorporate the host resistance into integrated disease management practices, contributing cumin cultivations.
Keywords: Alternaria burnsii, germplasms, varieties, susceptible, resistant