Department of Plant Pathology, Jawahar Lal Nehru Agricultural University, Gwalior-474 002, Madhya Pradesh.
Saffiower rust caused by Puccinia colcitrapae var. centaureae (DC) Cumm. is an autoec-ious rust, producing pycnia, uredinoid aecia, uredia and telia on saffiower. The fungus causes foot and root rot phase and foliage phase. In seedling phase the rust pathogen produces symptoms on cotyledons, hypocotyl and even on tap and lateral roots as pustule and the seedling rot at collar region. This rust is externally seed borne. In vitro studies indicate that tridemorph and mancozeb completely inhibited the uredospore germination at 125 ppm. Under field condi-tions, three sprays of tridemorph (005%) or thiophanate methyl (0.15%) or triademefon (0.1%) gave excellent control of rust and maximum yield.
