Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

Vol 28, Issue 1, 2022; Page No.(266-268)

IMPACT OF CHANGE IN MICRO CLIMATIC FACTORS FOR INCIDENCE AND PREVALENCE OF POWDERY MILDEW DISEASE IN INDIAN SANDALWOOD (SANTALUM ALBUM L.)

Muthu Kumar A., V. Soundararajan, Manoj Kumar P.E., Abhilash A., Rekha J., G. Vijayalakshmi and Mamatha N.

Abstract

The summers are hot, while winters are getting cool at Bangalore, Karnataka, probably the possible effects of climate change. The changing climatic conditions have exaggerated the circumstances due to change in distribution pattern, epidemic development and new pathotypes of pest/disease (Yanez-Lopez 2012). The effect of local micro climatic conditions at IWST plays a major role in development of disease and rapid spread of inoculum. Some of the abiotic factors assessed during the study were temperature (t0), relative humidity (RH) and cloud dynamics (CD) determines the incidence of disease. The inoculum tends to manifold in larger quantity under conducive abiotic factor (t0, RH and CD) with a susceptible host (stress plants) and virulent pathogen. The prevailing management strategies for controlling of powdery mildew of S. album using either copper or sulphur fungicide were not found to be effective, which indicates the probability of resistance developed in pathogen. Therefore impact of climate change on plant disease is quiet an alarming situation, where the situation indirectly tells about the evolution of pathogen. It is high time to understand how climate change affects plant disease and host, therefore disease management against emerging and re-emerging pathogens through collaborative multi-facet discipline approaches may be better strategies under climate change