Prevalence of Alternaria blight of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) caused by Alternaria sesami in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh

Alternaria blight disease in sesame is one of the most detrimental diseases causing significant yield losses to the crop. The disease caused by Alternaria sesami is also responsible for the low productivity of sesame in Uttar Pradesh therefore a roving survey was conducted to know the occurrence of this disease in Bundelkhand region of UP. Alternaria blight of sesame was found prevalent in all the four surveyed districts (Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur and Chitrakoot) during Kharif 2022 and Kharif 2023. The pooled mean severity of disease ranged between 28.90 per cent to 42.43 per cent in different locations that was detrimental for the sesame cultivation. Maximum pooled mean disease severity of 36.99% was recorded in Chitrakoot district followed by Hamirpur (35.98%), Banda (34.82%) and Mahoba (34.43%) districts. During survey of the villages, maximum pooled severity of the disease (42.43%) was recorded in Lamiyari village of the Pahari block followed by Kariyapur village (41.57%) in Kurara block of Hamirpur district, Ahiri village (41.22%) in Mau block of Chitrakoot district and Pandhari village (41.07%) in Sumerpur block of Hamirpur district. While, least pooled mean incidence (28.90%) was recorded in Ainjhi village of Charkhari block in district Mahoba followed by Bandhur village (29.61%) in Maudaha block of Hamirpur district. Current results on occurrence of Alternaria blight in sesame would be beneficial for devising the epidemiological studies and indicates need to develop effective integrated disease module for management so as to reduce the losses by this disease.