Department of Plant Pathology, C P College Of Agriculture, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar – 385 506 [Gujarat]
*Email: thakkarronak51@gmail.com
Online published on 13 January, 2015.
Clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) has been known since ancient times for green fodder, cattle feed, vegetable and green manuring purposes. Stem rot of clusterbean caused by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. has become a serious problem in recent years and caused heavy economic loss by reducing yield in Gujarat state. The morphological and cultural characters of the isolated Sclerotium spp. were studied, which exactly matched with Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. and the identification was also confirmed by National Fungal Culture Collection of India (NFCCI), Agharkar Research Institute, Pune as Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. (Atheliarolfsii). The most prominent characteristic symptoms of stem rot of clusterbean were white cover of fungal threads observed on the stem, which moved above and below to the stem. White mycelial mat was observed with sclerotial bodies resembled like mustard seeds. Survey of stem rot disease in Banaskantha district revealed that disease incidence of stem rot was recorded in different tehsils ranging from 4.8 to 9.8 per cent, where maximum being recorded in Dantiwada tehsil (9.8%) followed by Palanpur (7.6%), Dhanera (6.2%), Tharad (5.8%), and Vav (4.8%).
Isolation, identification, survey of stem rot fungus, Sclerotium rolfsii
