Few sprouts were found from stolons of Glycyrrhiza glabra cultivated in Osaka Pref. in 2020. The stolon pieces were almost rotted with browning in vessels and bore white molds under moist condition. A fungus was often isolated from the damaged stolon pieces. Inoculations with a representative isolate to G. glabra not only reproduced the stolon rot but caused base rot and blight on healthy seedlings of G. glabra and Glycyrrhiza uralensis. The same fungus as the inoculum was re-isolated from the diseased seedlings. The isolate formed a colony with white to pale yellow aerial mycelia with ocher color on reverse side of PDA culture. Its micro-conidiophores were straight or slightly curved, smooth, hyaline, septate, sometimes branched, elongated obclavate to cylindrical, with monophialides on the apices. Microconidia were hyaline, 1 or 2-celled, smooth ellipsoid to boat-shaped. Macroconidia were 3-5 septate, hyaline, smooth, falcate. Chlamydospores were hyaline, thick walled, 1 or 2-celled, sub-spherical to ellipsoid, smooth or verrucose. The isolate was identified as Fusarium vanettenii based on the morphology, rDNA-ITS and Histone H3 sequences. We propose a name, base and stolon rot (‘kabugare byo’ in Japanese), for the new disease.

Crown rot of Banana (Musa acuminate ‘Gros Michel’) was observed on Hachijo Island, Tokyo, Japan, in December 2020. The pathogen was isolated from the diseased pseudostems, and typical symptoms were reproduced after inoculation. The pathogen was identified as Fusarium sacchari based on morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses. This is the first report of banana crown rot caused by Fusarium sacchari in Japan.

The possibility of detecting dead plant areas in konjac using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was investigated. The intensity spectrum of the dead plant area had a unique range. Aerial images were binarized to detect dead plant areas. The dead plant rate estimated from aerial images was compared with the dead plant rate observed. Therefore, there is a significant relationship between the actual dead plant rate and the rate from aerial images (R² = 0.829, p < 0.01). This result proposes that the dead plant rate obtained from aerial images using UAV might allow us to predict the actual dead plant rate.

The seasonal occurrence of scarabaeid beetle adults captured in the fluorescent trap set up in the tea field in the Saitama Tea Research Institute, located in Iruma region of Saitama Prefecture, in 2022 was investigated. And we examined what changes had occurred compared between 1992 to 2022, which is 30 years later. The number of scarabaeid beetle species captured in 2022 was 18, down from 23 in 1992. In 1992, the top five species with the highest number of captures were Heptophylla picea, Anomala rufocuprea, Blitopertha orientalis, Anomala cuprea and Maladera castanea. In contrast, the top five most frequently captured species in 2022 were Anomala rufocuprea, Anomala albopilosa, Anomala cuprea, Heptophylla picea, Blitopertha orientalis. Especially Anomala albopilosa, which was not captured at all in 1992, became the second most numerous species. In addition, Hoplia communis, Anomala octiescostata and Amphicoma pectinata, which were not captured in 1992, were captured. Heptophylla picea, an important pest insect of tea, was the most common species in 1992 with 932 captures and a female rate of 11%, but in 2022 the number of captures decreased to 70. However, the female rate increased slightly to 15.7%.