Occurrence of Puccinia polysora Underw. in West Africa

Abstract

A RUST disease of maize has been known in West Africa for many years. Collections prior to 1949 were all of Puccinia sorghi Schw., both uredo- and teleuto-spores. The damage done to the crop was generally very slight; but in 1949 one of us (F. C. D.) found an epidemic of maize rust in Sierra Leone. In 1950 epidemics were reported from Liberia, Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, Dahomey and Nigeria, causing serious damage in all these countries, estimated up to 50 per cent of the crop in some areas, which resulted in local food shortages. © 1952 Nature Publishing Group.