Seasonal Variation of Soil Fungi in Tea Garden, Mokokchung District, Nagaland

By : Asangla Kichu, T Ajungla, Maongkala Walling, Wati Temjen, Lydia Yeptho

Page No: 151-158

Abstract
Tea plant is one of the major cash crops in Northeast India and tea leaves is a popular beverage cherished as a part of a healthy human diet. Tea plant being an economically important crop it is necessary to understand the soil fungal population as soil fungi are key drivers of plant productivity. This present study is conducted in the soil samples collected seasonally from the tea cultivated area of Mokokchung district, Nagaland, India. A total of 60 fungal species under 26 genera were isolated from the study site and colony forming units (CFU), relative density (RD), relative frequency (RF) and important value index were calculated. The highest fungal counts were recorded during the spring season with 8.2 x 106 CFUg-1 and lowest fungal counts were recorded in the winter season with 2.7 x 106 CFUg-1. Highest IVI was recorded in Aspergillus niger (8.09) followed by A. flavus (6.58). Dominance of Aspergillus may be attributed to the antagonistic nature exhibited by these genera against other fungi.

Authors :
Asangla Kichu, T. Ajungla, Maongkala Walling, Wati Temjen and Lydia Yeptho
Department of Botany, Nagaland University, Lumami.
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/JPSR.2022.38.01.15