Response of Inoculation Technique to Seed and Seedling Infection by M. Phaseolina in Sorghum

Abstract

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) a major cereal of the world after wheat, rice, maize and barley, is a staple food for millions of the poorest and most food insecure people in the Semi-Arid Tropics (SAT) of Africa and Asia. Sorghum commonly known as durra, jowari or milo, parts of the world grow sorghum both in rainy and post rainy seasons in India. The yield and quality of sorghum is affected by a wide array of biotic (pests and diseases) and abiotic (drought and problematic soils) stresses. Among the biotic factors of many diseases of sorghum, charcoal rot of sorghum caused by Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid. is causing more yield loss in rabi sorghum growing areas compared to kharif. It is mainly soil inhabiting fungus is an important root and stalk pathogen that incites the disease by producing microsclerotia/pycnidia.1,2 The pathogen causes disease in over 500 plant species from 75 families with heterogeneous host specificity i.e. the ability to infect monocots as well as dicots and can exhibit non-uniform distribution in the soil.3,4