Researchers have identified a new microbe responsible for a peculiar disease that has been affecting the sesame fields of Midnapore in West Bengal.
Sesame, the Queen of Oil, is a primordial oilseed crop since the remnants of sesame seeds were discovered at Harappa and Mohenjodaro.Sesame oil is excellent from a medicinal point of view.It contains antioxidants, and it is perfect for heart patients.Unfortunately, we do not use it frequently as the principal edible oil. The Indian sesame varieties need improvement so that their benefits can be harnessed.
Prof. Gaurab Gangopadhayay, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Bose Institute, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology worked on this aspect of the queen of oil for the last fourteen years along with his team and they have successfully developed a few improved varieties through molecular marker-assisted breeding.
However, in the last few years, Prof. Gangopadhyay and his group found a peculiar disease in the sesame fields of Midnapore, West Bengal farmers’ plots during their visits to East and West Midnapore districts. After attaining the flowering and fruiting stage, the sesame plants are reverting to their vegetative stage and the white flowers with pinkish tinges turn green.
Prof. Gangopadhyay started working on it and identified a new microbe residing in the gut of pests like leafhoppers and plant-hoppers, which is a phloem sucker, as the causative agent of this severe disease.
