SPH -JHS Coverpage December 2019 Number 2


125

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 14(2) : 125-129, 2019

Original Research Paper

Screening of Coriander Genotypes for their Relative Susceptibility
against Aphids under Field Conditions

Meena N.K.*, Lal G., Meena S.S., Kant K. and Meena R.D.
ICAR-National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer (Rajasthan), India

* Corresponding author email: email: narottammeena@gmail.com
ABSTRACT

The field experiments were conducted during Rabi 2013-14 and 2014-15 to screen out
twelve varieties/entries of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L. ) for their relative
susceptibility against aphids. None of the varieties/entries escaped the infestation of
aphids. The build-up of aphid infestation started from second half of December and reached
to its maximum in the first to third week of February in both years and then gradually
declined. On the basis of grade index of mean aphid population, coriander varieties RCr-
684 (25.45 aphids/plant), RCr-446 (26.45 aphids/plant), ACr-1 (26.60 aphids/plant), RCr-
436 (41.75 aphids/plant), Gujarat Coriander-2 (42.45 aphids/plant), Pant Haritma (43.50
aphids/plant) and Gujarat Coriander-1 (43.70 aphids/plant) were categorized as least
susceptible, Rajendra Swati and RCr-41 were moderately susceptible, whereas, Swati
(CS-6), Sadhna (CS-4) and Sindhu (CS-2), 73.88, 70.60 and 69.50 aphids/plant, respectively
were categorized as highly susceptible varieties of coriander against aphids under field
conditions. Coriander variety RCr-684 received maximum yield (16.82 and 16.63 q/ha)
for both the years followed by ACr-1 and RCr-446.

Key words: Aphids, Coriander Genotypes, Semi-arid region and Susceptibility.

INTRODUCTION
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is an important
major seed spice crop, grown for leaves as well as
seed purpose.It belongs to the family Apiaceae, is a
na tive of souther n Eur ope a nd nor ther n
Africa to southwestern Asia. The coriander plants are
annual herb, stems erect, branched or bushy, diploid,
chromosome number 2n=22. Coriander seeds and
leaves contain essential oils, which account for
aromatic character of the plant (Sankaracharya and
Sankaranarayana, 1989). The seeds have a lemony
citr us fla vour  when cr ushed,  due to
the linalool, terpenes, pinene, and limonene, among
others (Zheljazkov et al., 2014). Coriander seeds are
considered as car minative, diuretic, stomachic,
antibilious, refrigerant and aphrodisiac (Butani,
1984).The fresh leaves are an ingredient in many
South Asian foods (such as rasams, chutneys, and
salads); in Chinese and Thai dishes; in Mexican
cooking, particularly in salsa and guacamole and as a
ga r nish; a nd in sa la ds in Russia  a nd
other CIS countries (Moulin, 2002). It is mainly grown

in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,
Gujarat and Assam in a large area as majorRabi
season crop and cultivated in many more states in
large to small areas. Coriander is most susceptible
crop to aphids in semi-arid region, if plant protection
measures not applied on time; it causes nearly 40-50%
yield losses. In present situation of agriculture, farmers
are using a number of pesticides for aphid control
resulting development of pest resistance to various
commonly used insecticides, pest resurgence, and
outbreaks as well as severe mortality of natural
enemies and pollinators particularly honeybees, hence
the identification of resistance source against aphids
is the main factor to manage the pest.

Keeping these in view, field exper iment wer e
conducted a t r esea r ch fa r m,  ICAR-Na tiona l
Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer to evaluate
twelve varieties/entries of coriander viz., Gujarat
Coriander-1, Gujarat Coriander-2, Sadhna (CS-4),
ACr-1, Swati (CS-6), RCr-41, RCr-436, RCr-684,
Hisar Sugandh, Pant Haritma, Sindhu (CS-2) and
Rajendra Swati for their resistance/susceptibility



126

Meena et al

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 14(2) : 125-129, 2019

against aphids during Rabi 2013-14 and 2014-15 to
find out the resistance sources as breeding material
against aphids.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The field experiments on screening of different
va rieties/entr ies of coriander for their rela tive
susceptibility against aphids were conducted at ICAR-
National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer for
two consecutive years 2013-14 and 2014-15. The
study location is lying between 740 35’ 39" to 740 36’
01" E longitude and 260 22’ 12" to 260 22’ 31" N
latitude at an altitude of 486 m above mean see level.
The region fall under III agro-climatic zone of
Rajasthan is considered under semi-arid region. Soil
fertility status of institute’s experimental field is sandy
loam, poor fertility and water holding capacity, having
pH 8-8.3, EC 0.07-0.12 and organic carbon 0.15-
0.23 percent along with available N 178.5 kg/ha (low),
P2O5 12kg/ha (Medium), K2O kg/ha (low). The area
receives annual rainfall 250-350 mm and temperature
range 22-36 0C (maximum) and 5-20 0C (minimum)
with 64-80% relative humidity during cropping Rabi
season.

Twelve varieties/entries i.e. Rajendra Swati, ACr-1,
Gujarat Coriander-1, RCr-41, Pant Haritma, RCr-684,
Sadhna (CS-4), Swati (CS-6), RCr-446, Sindhu (CS-
2), Gujarat Coriander-2 and RCr-436 were sown in
well prepared and statistically laid out fields in
Ra ndomized Block Design concept with 03
replications. The seeds of above varieties/entries were
sown in the plot sized of 3x3 meter, under specified
geometry adopted in pop of the institute. Seeds were
treated with Trichoderma viride @ 6g/kg of seed to
avoid the seed borne diseases. Plant protection
measures were not applied during standing crop to
a llow the a phid incidence on the cr ops.  T he
observations on aphid population were recorded at
weekly intervals from five randomly selected and
tagged plants/plot. Initially, whole plants were taken
in to study and later on it was sifted to 10 cm twig
when crop was in full grown and umbels during
flowering and finally it was considered as aphid
population per plant. The relative susceptibility was
determined on the basis of grade index worked out
on peak infestation by using formulae 
mean of peak aphid population; σ: standard deviation
for insect population) as given below, wherein, the

incidence was measured on the basis of mean aphid
population per plant.

Grade Mean aphid
population/plant

Least susceptible <48.36
Moderately susceptible 48.36-66.13
Highly susceptible >66.13

The data were obtained and transformed in sqrt. X +
0.5 values and subjected to analysis of variance to find
out the critical difference (Gomez and Gomez, 1983).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Twelve varieties/entries of coriander were screened
out for  their  r ela tive susceptibility to a phids
(Hyadaphis coriandri Das and Myzus persicae
Sulzer) and the data on mean aphid’s mixed population
per plant were taken for two consecutive years and
presented in Table 1 and  2, revealed that, none of
the varieties/entries was free from aphid infestation.
Initially, the aphid infestation started in second half of
December (35 DAS) with very less in populations in
both the years. In 2013-14, the aphid infestation
started on second half of December with few aphids
per plant on some coriander varieties, whereas RCr-
684, RCr-446 and ACr-1 were remained free from
the aphid infestation at this stage. Then after, pest
infestation increased gradually and reached to its
maximum during February month with three peaks
depending upon the varieties/entries (Table 1). The
coriander variety RCr-684 received lowest aphid
infestation (23.70 aphids/plant) followed by RCr-446
and ACr-1 with 24. 10 a nd 24.20 aphids/plant,
respectively. The maximum aphid infestation was
observed on variety Swati (CS-6) 71.10 aphids/plant
followed by Sadhna (CS-4) Sindhu (CS-2) and RCr-
41 having aphids population of 66.40, 65.00 and 64.20
aphids/plant, respectively. The remaining varieties/
entries were received the aphid infestation with
ranged from 41.70 to 52.30 aphids/plant. Over the
season, the lowest mean aphid infestation (9.21
aphids/plant) was recorded on variety RCr-684
followed by ACr-1 and RCr-446, whereas, maximum
on Swati (CS-6) and Sadhna (CS-4) and Sindhu (CS-
2). The highest yield of coriander seed was also
recorded from the variety RCr-684 (16.82 q/ha)
followed by ACr-1 (15.74q/ha) and RCr-446 (12.89
q/ha), while minimum yield 4.14 q/ha was obtained



127

Screening of Coriander Genotypes

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 14(2) : 125-129, 2019

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128

Meena et al

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 14(2) : 125-129, 2019

T
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 2

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129
J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 14(2) : 125-129, 2019

Screening of Coriander Genotypes

from the variety RCr-41, which was highly susceptible
to aphid.

 Similarly, in 2014-15 the aphid infestation started in
third week of December with few aphids per plant
on some coriander varieties, whereas RCr-684, RCr-
446 and ACr-1 were remained free from the aphid
infestation at this stage. Then after pest infestation
increased gradually and reached to its maximum during
the month of February with three peaks i.e. 7t h
February (on varieties Rajendra Swati, and Pant
Har itma ),  14 th Febr uar y (on va r ieties Gujar a t
Coriander-1, RCr-684, Sadhna (CS-4), RCr-446,
Sindhu (CS-2) and RCr-436) and 21stFebruary (RCr-
41, Swati (CS-6) and Gujarat Coriander-2) depending
upon the varieties/entries (Table 2). The coriander
variety RCr-684 received lowest aphid infestation
(27.20 aphids/plant) followed by RCr-446 and ACr-1
with 28.80 and 29.00 aphids/plant, respectively.
Meenaet al. (2002b) also reported that coriander
varieties RCr-446 and RCr-436 were found least
susceptible against aphids are in accordance the
present finding.  These three varieties were found
statistically at par for aphid infestation. The maximum

aphid infestation was observed on variety Swati (CS-
6) 76.66 aphids/plant followed by Sadhna (CS-4)
Sindhu (CS-2) and RCr-41 having aphids population
of 74.80, 74.00 and 65.10 aphids/plant, respectively.
The remaining varieties/entries were received the
aphid infestation with ranged from 41.80 to 51.33
aphids/plant. The highest yield of coriander seed was
recorded from the variety RCr-684 (16.63 q/ha)
followed by RCr-446 (14.89 q/ha) and ACr-1 (14.75q/
ha), while minimum yield 6.00 q/ha was obtained from
the variety Sadhna (CS-4) and RCr-41 (6.65q/ha),
which were highly susceptible to aphid. Based on two
year results, it was evident from the study that the
coriander varieties i.e. RCr-684 (25.45 aphids/plant),
RCr-446 (26.45 aphids/plant), ACr-1 (26.60 aphids/
plant), RCr-436 (41. 75 a phids/plant), Guja ra t
Coriander-2 (42.45 aphids/plant), Pant Haritma (43.50
aphids/plant) and Gujarat Coriander-1 (43.70 aphids/
plant) are moderately susceptible, whereas, Swati
(CS-6), Sadhna (CS-4) and Sindhu (CS-2) with aphid
population 73.88, 70.60 and 69.50 aphids/plant,
respectively were categorized as highly susceptible
varieties of coriander against aphids under field
conditions.

REFERENCES
Butani, D.K. 1984. Spices a nd pest problems;

coriander. Pesticides, 18(9): 15-17.

Gomez, A.K. and Gomez, A.A. (1983). Statistical
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Wiley Interscience Publication, New York, pp
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Meena, P.C., Sharma, J.K. and Noor, A. 2002b.
Varietal reaction of coriander Coriandrum
sativum L. and impact of date of sowing in
incidence of aphid Hyadaphis coriandri Das.
Indian Journal of Entomology, 64(1): 58-62.

Moulin, Leo (2002). Eating and Drinking in Europe:
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Sankaracharya, N.B. and Sankaranarayana, M.L.
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 Zheljazkov, V. D.; Astatkie, T; Schlegel, V (2014).
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essential oil yield, composition and bioactivity of
cor ia nder  oil. Journal  of  Oleo Science.
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(Received on 30.9.2017, Revised and accepted on 30.11.2019)