Wilt in Cucumber-An Emerging Disease in Mid Hills of Himachal Pradesh

Fusarium wilt of cucumber caused by Fusarium oxysporum was found to occur in major cucumber growing areas of mid hills of Himachal Pradesh. During surveys conducted in 2018–2019, maximum disease incidence was recorded at Dedghrat (43%) followed by Jadari (31%). Symptoms of disease appeared as chlorosis followed by necrosis from lower to middle leaves leading to complete wilting of the plant. Associated fungus, from the diseased samples was isolated in pure form and designated as Fusarium oxysporum on the basis of cultural and morphological characters. Pathogenicity test was carried out with three different methods of inoculation, where soil inoculation with mass culture method was found most effective with an incubation period of about 10 days. Five cucurbits (bottle gourd, bitter gourd, zucchini, sponge gourd and pumpkin) were evaluated against Fusarium oxysporum to study its host range and it was found that all the cucurbits were susceptible to the disease except bitter gourd.