First Record of Meloidogyne javanica infecting Chia Plants in India

Chia, Salvia hispanica is a flowering annual plant, and its seeds are nutritive due to the presence of omega-3 fatty acids, dietary fiber, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. It is also free of gluten. In view of immense medicinal value, the production of Chia seeds was introduced in India in 2012. Root-knot nematodes have very wide host range and attack thousands of plant species. The present study reports the first record on the natural incidence of root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne javanica in Chia plants in the Himachal Pradesh, India. As the area under Chia cultivation is likely to expand, this information will be crucial for the farmers as root-knot nematode may pose a serious challenge to Chia cultivation in India and elsewhere.