Occurrence of white rot disease of garlic in Himachal Pradesh

White rot disease was noticed in some garlic fields during routine surveys of garlic growing localities of Solan and Sirmour districts of Himachal Pradesh during 2014–15. Affected plants showed yellowing and wilting of leaves with stunted growth. The affected plants were easily uprooted from the soil. White and fluffy mycelial growth was observed on bulbs and underground stem in affected plants. On the white mycelia mat, small black coloured sclerotia were also seen which were about the size of a poppy seed. Highest disease incidence was recorded at Nauhradhar (27.0%) followed by Lanapalar (25.0%) areas of Sirmour district while minimum incidence was observed at Nauni (2.0%) area of district Solan. The pathogen was isolated in pure culture from infected plant tissue on to potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. Pathogenicity was proved by artificial inoculation of one month old garlic seedlings grown in pots containing sterilized soil. On the basis of the cultural and morphological characters of the fungus it was identified as Sclerotium cepivorum Berk. This probably constitutes the first report of occurrence of white rot of garlic caused by S cepivorum in Himachal Pradesh.