Occurrence of the Fungal Pathogens Associated with French Bean in the Organic Farming System of Manipur, India

A study was conducted to evaluate the fungal pathogens of French bean and incidences of the various diseases in the bean growing gardens of Manipur. The study has been carried out exclusively to the home garden cultivation as the garden cultivations could be considered as organic by default as there is a general trend of not applying synthetic chemicals and fertilizer in the home gardens. Though the products of the home garden do not contribute much for marketing yet few surplus were sent to the market and a substantial amount of their home consumptions has been made from the home garden. The study included survey and assessment of tile disease. Survey was carried out during the march to june bean growing seasons in Manipur for three consecutive years, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Major disease observed in the study includes Alternaria leaf spot, Cercospora leaf spot, powdery mildew, rust, rhizoctonia ischolar_main rot, Fusarium wilts, sclerotina ischolar_main rot and sclerotina fruit rot. The study would help in understanding the prevalent fungal diseases of french bean in the home gardens of Manipur. This would enable to take up appropriate disease management practices for the diseases in the organic farming system. Again the study would help in understanding the fungal pathology of french bean managed through organic means.