Journal of Tea Science Research. 2015, Vol. 5, No. 7, 1-6
1
Research Report Open Access
Plant Protection Development in Tea Plantations of South India in the Last
Five Decades
Nepolean P. , Jayanthi R., Mareeswaran J., Radhakrishnan B.
UPASI Tea Research Foundation, Tea Research Institute, Valparai-642 127 Coimbatore Dt. Tamil Nadu, India.
Corresponding author email
Journal of Tea Science Research, 2015, Vol.5, No.7 doi: 10.5376/jtsr.2015.05.0007
Received: 30 Mar., 2015
Accepted: 18 Aug., 2015
Published: 20 Oct., 2015
© 2015 Nepolean et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:
Nepolean P., Jayanthi R., Mareeswaran J. and Radhakrishnan B., 2015, Study on Socio-Economic and Educational condition of Tea Worker at Sylhet in
Bangladesh,
Journal of Tea Science Research, 5(7), 1-8
(doi
Abstract
The excessive use of chemicals in agriculture has resulted in several environmental problems like ozone layer depletion,
poor soil health, due to the decline in natural microflora and acidification of water. To overcome these problems, application of
biocontrol agents and biofertilizers has been found to be effective. Generally, these are beneficial microorganisms involved in the
breakdown of organic matter, nitrogen fixation and secretion of growth promoting substances. They also supply nutrients to the
plants, control diseases and maintain the soil structure in cultivable fields. Intensive research has been done to find out the usefulness
of this aspect in the tea plantations. Certain groups of bacteria and fungi are considered as efficient biofertilizers and biocontrol
agents in tea which are freely available in top soil, usually associated with plants with symbiotic relationship. These organisms
receive nutrients from plant tissues and in turn supply the required nitrogen and phosphorus to the plants. In the present review article,
the performance of Plant Pathology and Microbiology Division during
the last five decade and the challenges ahead have been
discussed.
Keywords
IPDM; INM; Biofertilizer; Biocontrol agents and tea ecosystem
Introduction
South India has been playing a major role in the
global tea production. We have developed many
control measures against blister blight disease in tea
plantation. Since 1963, nickel, copper, sulphur and
other formulations have been recomemended against
blister blight disease. After the discovery of the first
fungicide (Bordeaux mixture), usage of copper fungicides
in plantation crops is being done to a maximum extent
and very little synthetic organic fungicides has been
utilized. One important concept developed during the
70s is the interaction of fungicides possessing
different modes of action against specific pathogens.
For instance, calixin has shown a very powerful
antisporulant activity against blister blight disease
(Venkata Ram, 1974), in addition to manifesting
eradicative control through systemic action. The use
of calixin in an integrated spray schedule (Venkata
Ram and Chandra Mouli, 1976) has been recommended
for preventing inoculums buildup, when this systemic
organic formulation is likely to be more efficacious,
i.e., just prior to be and after the heavy south west
monsoon period; during the wet season, the
combination of copper fungicide and nickel chloride
has been advised for both protective and eradicative
control. The results recorded from integrated control
schedule were impressive as the yield was much
superior in the control as compared to that of the
Bordeaux sprays applied.
Plant protection programs and its application
Integrated fungicide spray application schedules
continued to be developed in the 80’s and no doubt
these improved the results of combined plant protection
against disease and pest problems. Potentiating
fungicides by using antibiotics is another area that
holds promise in the development. Incorporation of
mixture comprising streptomycin and tetracycline
with copper oxychloride has shown to improve blister
blight control of tea, with less usage of copper
fungicide (Chandra Mouli and Venkata Ram, 1979).
No great progress has been made in the development
of soil fumigants in the 80’s. In tea industry, primary
