Viral diseases – Threat to large cardamom plantation in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh

A comprehensive field survey was carried out from April 2015 to April 2017 spanning 4 circles 18 villages and 90 large cardamom plantations. It was carried out with the objective of identifying the problems of declining large cardamom plantations in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh. According to the field survey, two (2) main viral diseases namely ‘Foorkey and Chirkey’ were found as the main reason for the declining. Another wide spreading symptom observed was sun scorching. Results revealed that foorkey disease incidence was highest (26.75%) in Hawai followed by Manchal (21.08%), Goiliang (16.00%) and Chaglongam (14.55%) circle. Chirkey disease was found prevalent in Hawai (8.70%) and Goiliang (5.32%) circle. Crop loss due to sun scorching was also reported from entire district, it was mainly due to their traditional practice i.e. open cultivation of large cardamom. It was observed extreme at Manchal (9.68%) followed by Hawai (8.40%), Goiliang (7.60%) and Chaglongam (7.35%) circle. Lack of reliable and certified source of quality planting materials, traditional method of open cultivation, lack of pest and disease tolerant/resistant varieties and their negligence - as they visit their plantation only once i.e. during harvesting were the major causes observed.