A survey of farmers’ fields in Bihar in eastern India to assess the status of fungal diseases of Japanese mint (Mentha arvensis L.)

• Published in: Indian phytopathology Vol. 77; no. 3; pp. 645 - 656
• Main Authors: Sen, Anamita, Rai, Dinesh, Sai Reddy, M. S., Prajapati, Manoj Kumar, Kumari, Anupam, Jena, Biswajit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01-09-2024
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Life Sciences; Plant Pathology; Research Article; Characterization; ITS; Survey
• ISSN: 0367-973X; 2248-9800
• DOI: 10.1007/s42360-024-00754-w

Japanese mint commonly called Mentha or corn mint is grown throughout India as an evergreen perennial herb. Mentha is susceptible to many diseases and to identify major diseases, a roving survey was conducted in major Mentha growing areas of Samastipur, Muzzafarpur and Begusarai districts of Bihar. During the survey of farmers’ fields,
Alternaria
leaf blight was recorded to cause highest yield losses with 32.20–64.40% disease severity.
Fusarium
wilt was also observed and considered as an emerging disease in Mentha which recorded up to 37% disease incidence during the survey period. Pathogens causing leaf blight and wilt were collected from diseased Mentha plants and identified based on morpho-molecular characteristics. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS5) enabled to confirm the morphological identification of
Fusarium
at the species level as
Fusarium solani
and
F. equiseti
and
Alternaria
species as
Alternaria alternata
. Pathogenicity test was performed on one month old Mentha plants which indicated that all the pathogens identified were found pathogenic to Mentha.