Interception of Peronospora manshurica (Naum.) Syd., in soybean germplasm introduced from 1978–97

During qurantine clearance of 11,082 samples of soybean germplasrn received from 1978–1997, downy mildew (Peronospora manshurica) (Naum.) Syd. was intercepted in 1535 samples from 15 countries including Malaysia and Indonesia, the countries from where the disease is not yet reported. Country-wise details on the introduction of germplasm and interception of downy mildew is presented. The interception of P. manshurica has great significance in view of the fact that the pathogen is not yet reported from India, is highly destructive in nature, oospores can survive for longer periods, existence of a large number of physiological races and zero tolerance limit prescribed for quarantine purposes.