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Common rust incited by Puccinia sorghi Schw. is the most destructive fungal foliar disease of maize worldwide. It is reported that common rust diseases can greatly reduce grain yield of maize in susceptible genotypes by 40% on an average. Foliar disease management in maize often involves indiscriminate use of chemicals or total reliance on host plant resistance (HPR). Integrated disease management (IDM) have clearly demonstrated that when moderate levels of HPR are combined with field treatment and affordable levels of chemical control, expected yields and economic returns are higher than obtained with chemical control of susceptible genotypes. Local agronomic practices were followed during the same period of investigation. Foliar application of Tebuconazole @ 0.1% at 35 and 50 DAS, that is, T 1 was significantly superior and highly effective in reducing the disease severity (19.74%) and gave maximum grain yield (66.87 q/ha). The next best treatment was foliar application of Hexaconazole @ 0.1% at 35 and 50 DAS (28.23%) followed by foliar application of Tebuconazole @ 0.1% at 35 DAS and Neemazole F 5% at 50 DAS. The study suggests that any technology developed for maize should offer a clear yield and foliar disease resistance advantage over farmers' current practices.

Among the fungal diseases infecting tomato crops, early blight caused by Alternaria solani (Ellis and Martin) Jones and Grout is one of the most catastrophic disease causing accountable losses. Further, all of the tomato cultivars presently under cultivation have succumb more or less to early blight disease. Therefore, the present studies were undertaken for the pathogenic, cultural, morphological and molecular variability among the isolates of A. solani. The results reveal all of the eight isolates of A. solani as pathogenic to tomato (Cv. Pusa Ruby) and showed variability amongst them. The test isolates could grow better on the basic culture medium potato dextrose agar; however, highest mycelial growth was recorded on the isolate AsLt (88.50 mm), followed by AsBd (82.36 mm) and AsHl (78.40 mm), with excellent sporulation. All of the eight test isolates exhibited a wide range of variability in respect of their mycelial and conidial dimensions and septation. RAPD-PCR analysis of the four most virulent A. solani isolates, using 13 OPA primers revealed that the isolates AsBd (Beed) and AsLt (Latur) were closely related with 85% genetic similarity whereas, the isolates AsHl (Hingoli) and AsJl (Jalna) were closely related with 50% genetic similarity, but distinct from that of AsLt and AsBd isolates.

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Damping off diseases in okra is an economically most important and destructive disease of okra. The main characteristic symptom of the disease is pre-emergence damping off i.e. rotting of the seeds and seedlings before actual emergence from the soil and postemergence damping off which is severe when the seedlings are in cotyledonous stage. The infected tissues become soft and water soaked resulting in toppling over of the entire plant on the soil surface. The test pathogen (Pythium aphanidermatum) was isolated successfully on the basal culture medium Potato dextrose agar, from the seedlings showing typical symptoms of damping off. The pathogen produced nonseptate, well branched, colourless to white mycelium, lobed sporangia on indeterminate sporangiophores, and formation of resting spore (oospore) when observed under the microscope. Pathogenicity of P. aphanidermatum was proved by sick soil method in pot culture, sowing okra cv. PARBHANI KRANTI under screen house condition and by water agar method. The pathogen was reisolated on PDA from artificially diseased okra seedling, and compared its cultural and morphological characteristics with the original fungus isolated from the naturally damping off diseased okra plant.How to view point the article : Jukte, S.R., Badgujar, S.L., Suryawanshi, A.P., Dey , Utpal and Kuldhar, D.P. (2016). Symptomatology, isolation, identification and pathogenicity test of damping off disease in okra. Internat. J. Plant Protec., 9(1) : 358-361.